All In a Lifetime
by CanaanAlphardForever
Summary: From the moment they meet until they're old and grey; this is the tale of Ymir and Krista's life together. YmirxKrista. Written for a very special friend's birthday. AU.
1. And they meet

_This short story was written for a very special friend. Since we live far apart in different countries, writing this was the most I could do for a gift. I only had about 2 weeks to write this so it isn't as detailed an expansive as it could be, but I am satisfied with it. So, le friend, I hope you enjoy this gift on your wonderful day ^^ and to the readers, I hope you enjoy this too._

_Happy bornday, friend. You know who you are._

* * *

**Chapter 1: And they meet**

It was a bright and sunny Monday morning at Rose Academy when Ymir met the girl of her dreams. The brunette had been sitting at the back of the class teasing Sasha when the new transfer student walked in.

Ymir had looked up and she was transfixed.

Krista's blonde hair and blue eyes made Ymir think she was an angel for a split second before she came to her senses. She didn't stop staring though, because she couldn't take her eyes off of the girl. She was short and small. Like, really small. Ymir was very tall for her age and she wondered how high she would tower over the tiny girl. She made a promise to herself to find out.

"Alright class, we have a new student. Please pay attention while she introduces herself." Their teacher announced with a bright smile.

Krista bowed her head to the teacher with an angelic smile and then turned to the class. "Hello everyone, my name is Krista Renz. I hope we get along well for the remainder of the year!" The class all chorused their greeting and some of the guys started whispering amongst themselves about how cute she was and if she was available.

_Krista, such a pretty name…_ Ymir thought in wonder. She heard the boys in the class and their perverted conversation and sent them a glare. _Bastards, this girl is already mine._ They noticed her glare and ceased their conversation immediately.

"It's nice to have you join our class, Krista. Now where can you sit?" Their teacher swept her eyes over the class and before she reached Ymir's desk the brunette pushed Sasha out of the chair beside her.

"Ymir!" Sasha exclaimed in a whisper.

"Sorry Sasha, but piss off for now. This is important." Ymir hissed back and then straightened when the teacher spotted the empty seat next to her.

"Ymir, can Krista take that seat?" The teacher asked.

"Sure." Ymir acted like she didn't care but it took all of her will not to grin like an idiot. Sasha only sighed and took an empty chair behind Ymir. Sometimes she wondered why she was friends with Ymir, but then she remembered every time the taller girl had helped her and decided that she regretted nothing.

The teacher nodded in satisfaction and waved towards Ymir's desk. Krista swallowed, having noticed Ymir's strikingly attractive face and how intimidating she appeared with her tall stature – it was noticeable even when she was sitting – and gracefully walked over to her new class partner.

"Hi, I'm Krista." The blonde sat down, barely making any noise as she did so, and offered a hand to Ymir.

"Ymir." The brunette responded with a tiny smile and engulfed Krista's tiny hand with her own. The moment their skin touched a spark of electricity slid up their arms and straight into their hearts.

Krista gasped lightly and looked up into equally surprised brown eyes. When looking into those eyes she felt an instant connection and her heart immediately swelled, though she kept these thoughts to herself.

"It's nice to meet you, Ymir." Krista stated, tasting the taller girl's name on her tongue and loving the way it felt.

Ymir shivered at how wonderful her name sounded coming from this angel's lips and swallowed thickly. "Nice to meet you too, Krista."

They finally dropped her hands, but their eyes remained locked for a minute more. When the teacher's voice broke through their moment they finally looked away, but both of them felt a flutter in their hearts and a sudden, light blush across their cheeks.

When enough time had passed and periods had ended it was time for lunch. Ymir had hardly focused during any of the classes as she couldn't stop staring at the beautiful angel sitting next to her.

Though Krista attempted to listen and take notes, she couldn't help but sneak glances too. She felt just as capture by Ymir as the taller girl was to her, though she didn't know it.

When most of the class had dispersed for lunch, Ymir headed for the door but was stopped by a small hand wrapping around her wrist. A shiver rocketed down her spine at the contact but she swallowed and forced herself to appear calm. She looked down at Krista and smirked when she finally got to see how short she really was. The blonde came up to just below her shoulders.

"Ymir, could you stick with me? I'm new here and I don't know the layout yet." Krista blushed slightly at having to ask and quickly dropped Ymir's wrist. Her skin had felt so warm though, Krista just wanted to touch it forever.

"Sure thing pipsqueak." Ymir answered with a naughty grin and ruffled Krista's hair for good measure. Maybe it was her ability to be a complete retard at the worst moments or her reflex to feeling unfamiliar emotions, but Ymir acted overly obnoxious and hid her sudden fear that she had upset the angel.

"Pipsqueak?" Krista asked with an arched eyebrow. She crossed her arms over her chest and looked up at Ymir with a frown. The taller girl started to sweat.

Krista walked passed Ymir and left the class, blindly walking away to a bench in the distance under a tree. Ymir started panicking and hurried after her.

"Listen, Krista I didn't mean to offend you. I just, I get overly stupid sometimes." Ymir tried to explain, terrified of pushing the blonde away with her personality issues.

Krista didn't respond and continued walking to the bench, not even sparing a glance at the taller girl right at her heel.

"I'm really sorry. Please don't be mad at me or anything. I, uh… you can hit me!" Ymir's mind raced for a way to fix this and she started rambling. "I won't mind, honest! I deserve it. I'll probably be an ass again though. But seriously, you can hit me this once if it'll make you forgive me."

Krista finally reached the bench and took a seat. She placed her lunchbox on her lap and opened the lid to reveal a neatly placed meal.

"Krista? Sh-should I go?" Ymir was crushingly devastated. She had finally met someone that she _wanted_ to get to know and then she went and fucked it up with her big mouth. Ymir would have punched something, like that tree, but she didn't want Krista to end up scared of her on top of thinking she was an asshole.

Suddenly Krista started laughing and Ymir blinked. The brunette glanced down and the smaller girl giggling with a hand over her mouth. It was the cutest and most beautiful thing Ymir had ever heard in her entire life, and suddenly she lost all of the worry and anger she had built up in the last few minutes. She suddenly didn't care why Krista was laughing, even if it was at her, and wondered what she could do to make her laugh forever, if just to hear that soothing, adorable sound.

"Ymir," Krista giggled for a few seconds more and then leaned over and gently touched a finger to Ymir's hand. "That was payback for the name. I'm not mad at you." She smiled sweetly and pulled her arm back. "And I don't want to hit you." Ymir simply stared, dumbstruck. "Sit down? Would you like some of my lunch?"

All Ymir could do was nod like an idiot and drop into the space beside Krista. She sat as far away from the blonde as she could, scared that – even though it had been a joke – she would say something to hurt the angel again. Krista would have none of it though and scooted closer until their knees brushed together and their hearts fluttered.

"So?" Krista lifted her lunchbox and waited for Ymir's numb mind to register the offer. When it did, Ymir blushed slightly at her slowness and accepted the offer by taking one half of a sandwich.

"Thank you." Ymir said softly and stared down at the bread in her hand.

"I'm sorry for scaring you like that. It scared you, didn't it?" Krista noticed Ymir's change in mood and that she had suddenly grown more sombre.

"Nah, not really. I just tend to lose friends because of my big mouth. Was scared that happened now too. Okay, yeah, it scared me but that wasn't your fault. I shouldn't have made that comment." Ymir looked away uncomfortably. "Sorry."

"It's alright Ymir, if I knew you would have taken this personally then I wouldn't have done that to get you back. Do we forgive each other?"

Ymir turned her head to look Krista in the eyes, and then she felt her heart melt. "Of course." She breathed out in reply.

Krista smiled happily and focused on eating her half of the sandwich. "So tell me about yourself Ymir, do you have family?"

Ymir swallowed and cleared her throat. "I do. I live with my grandparents." She supplied, not feeling that uncomfortable with speaking about herself, not like she usually would be. Normally Ymir detested personal questions and would glare at someone asking about her personal life. This angel could ask her anything, though, and she would answer every question.

"No parents?"

"They died when I was a baby. I don't remember them at all. It was a car accident but I had been at my grandparents that night so luckily I didn't die with them."

Krista looked up in alarm and suddenly engulfed Ymir in a small but warm hug. "I'm sorry, that sounds terrible. Should I stop asking? I don't want to upset you."

Ymir smiled and gave Krista's back a pat. "No you can continue asking. But I'll need you to answer your questions for me too." She grinned at Krista when she pulled back. "My secrets for yours."

Krista giggled, closed her lunchbox and set it down beside her on the bench. "Fair enough." She turned her body and crossed her legs, properly facing Ymir. The brunette raised an eyebrow and placed one long leg over the other and rested her long arm on the back of the bench. "I live with my parents. My father is a business man and my mother is a painter. We moved here because my mom got tired of our old place. We had been there since before I was born. I didn't really want to move because I would leave all of my friends and I'm scared of being alone, but it was for mom's happiness so I accepted it."

"My mom was a writer." Ymir added, looking up at the green leaves of the trees and the streaks of light breaking through the gaps. "My dad was a journalist. They fell in love over the love of writing, or so my grandmother says. My mother wrote novels but never got any published. My father was the one that supported us." The brunette smiled softly. "They were so in love that they didn't care about the financial difficulties, and when they had me, they wanted to raise me like that too." Ymir looked down at the ground. "Luckily my grandparents were able to raise me alright, though I'm kind of still a failure."

"Don't say that!" Krista exclaimed. "No matter what you're not a failure. Even if you insult people you just meet, we all make mistakes. It doesn't make you any less of a person than me." The fire in Krista's eyes surprised Ymir.

"You have some strong beliefs there." She commented.

"I believe that every person is beautiful, and deserves a chance at happiness. Everyone. We all go through hardships and we all make bad choices sometimes, but deep down we all want and need love and happiness, and we all deserve it."

Ymir studied Krista's determined face and decided that this trait would forever annoy her, but she would love it anyway.

She realized then that she would love everything about this blonde. Every fault and every beauty. Every laugh and every tear. She realized that she had just fallen in love.

Ymir's throat tightened and her heart jerked painfully hard at this realization.

"Tell me more about yourself." Ymir demanded, craving to know more about this angel that she wanted to claim.

Krista looked up into her face and smiled. "Ask anything. I'll tell you anything you want to know."

And Ymir did, she asked everything and anything, and Krista answered with complete honesty. In reciprocation Krista asked questions too, and Ymir answered.

By the end of the school day they had both made a best friend in each other, and they had both fallen head over heels in love in just under 7 hours together.

They would never understand the invisible, magnetic pull they had felt the moment they had touched, but neither really cared. Knowing wouldn't change how real their feelings were already, and knowing wouldn't make them feel any less.


	2. Confessing under the tree

**Chapter 2: Confessing under the tree (one year later)**

A year had passed since their first meeting and Ymir and Krista had become the absolute best of friends. They did everything together, went everywhere together, and were considered a package deal. Where one went the other followed.

The only problem was that Ymir was deeply in love with Krista. Like, really in love. So much so that she often got an ache in her chest. It ached because Krista didn't know and she was too scared to tell her. For a long while Ymir had been terrified of revealing her feelings, but hiding them had been so hard and she was growing tired of it.

Every time Krista used her lap to curl up on, since she was small enough, or every time she gave Ymir an extra-long hug, arms wrapped tightly around her neck, causing Ymir to lean down so that she wouldn't lift Krista off of the ground, the brunette's heart would ache and flutter at the same time and she had a confession hanging on her tongue.

But each time she held herself back, and each time it hurt more.

Ymir was absolutely fed up with bottling her feelings up. Keeping her feelings and thoughts to herself was making her lose her mind. She needed to ether stop loving Krista or grow the balls to tell her.

There was no way she could stop loving her.

So that was why Ymir stood nervously under that tree they had sat together at on that first day. She paced impatiently, wiping her sweaty hands on her school pants every few minutes. Ymir was close to hyperventilating. Her heart was racing and her chest heaved with her fast breathing.

She was going to do it, she was going to confess. She had asked Krista to meet her there after class, and now it was after class. The blonde had to stay back to talk to a teacher though, so she was taking some time to get to Ymir.

The waiting was making the brunette antsy. She hated being nervous and how vulnerable she felt because of it, and she dreaded how even more vulnerable she would feel in a moment once she finally opened her heart up and spilled it out for Krista to see.

Krista was a kind person, so even if she didn't feel the same she wouldn't leave her. She would stay and remain as her friend. Ymir hoped this was true, because she was terrified of ruining their friendship because of this and losing someone incredibly dear to her.

"Ymir!" Krista called out from the distance and started jogging over while waving excitedly.

Oh God, she was coming and Ymir wasn't ready. She read over the paper she held in her hand once more and then roughly shoved it into her pocket. Yeah, she was lame enough to write what she would say down before saying anything. What was so wrong with rehearsing it? It probably wasn't going to help at all, because Ymir's mind went blank the moment Krista stopped in front of her.

"Ymir?" Krista reached out and tentatively touched Ymir's cheek. The taller girl looked like a deer caught in headlights and she was breathing hard. Upon touching her skin Krista felt how hot she was and that she was sweating. "Ymir, are you sick? Are you feeling okay?" Krista grabbed the front of Ymir's shirt and pulled her down so that she could touch her lips to Ymir's forehead.

Ymir's heart nearly burst when it happened. She suddenly pulled back and waved her hands frantically. "N-no! I'm fine, perfectly fine. Better than fine!" She chuckled nervously and avoided Krista's gaze.

Krista raised an eyebrow. "Ymir, what did you do this time? You're doing your nervous act again." The blonde knew Ymir better than anyone and whenever the brunette had done something wrong she would get agitated and nervous, like now. Though now, Krista noted, it seemed more serious than just the usual.

"No, I didn't do anything." Ymir answered quickly. She swallowed hard and took a deep breath. "I actually need to tell you something." She was surprised that she hadn't stuttered, what with the way her body was shaking and her teeth were chattering.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Krista took Ymir's much bigger hand in her own and felt it trembling. "Your hand is shaking really bad."

Ymir nearly groaned in misery. Krista was not making this any easier for her and it was terrifying enough.

Over the year they had always been physically close. Holding hands, using each other as a pillow or a leaning post, long hugs or just any skin on skin contact, but Ymir had assumed that Krista meant it all in close friendship. That was what she was doing now. Krista felt no need to hold back and she was doing so innocently without the knowledge of Ymir's true feelings. Would that change when she did?

"I'm just really nervous but I'm fine." Ymir tried not to roll her eyes like she usually did. She didn't want to upset Krista before she even confessed.

"What is it then? What do you need to tell me?"

Ymir took a breath. It was now or never. She nervously clasped her hands together and tried to organize her thoughts. "Krista, I… uh… th-there is something, you see, that I, um, I n-need to… I have f-feelings…" Ymir paused, frustrated at her inability to just get the words out.

"Yeah?" Krista coaxed softly, patiently waiting with a supportive smile. "Whatever you have to tell me, Ymir, I'm here for you." She reached out and touched Ymir's clasped hands, sending a shiver down Ymir's spine at the warm softness of the touch

Ymir stopped thinking rapidly and released a low breath. She looked at Krista, _really_ looked at her. The blonde was patiently waiting, watching with concerned eyes. Ymir smiled. This girl was too good for anyone. Almost instantly the horrible nerves settled down and Ymir's body drained of tension. She sighed in relief and closed her eyes for a second.

Krista was Krista, and no matter what would happen today, she would remain Ymir's friend. Krista would never abandon her, especially for a reason such as this. Maybe their relationship would change, maybe Krista would be more aware of her actions and words around Ymir, but they would still be together. The blonde wouldn't leave, she would never leave her.

Krista furrowed her brows in confusion as she watched Ymir break out into a slow smile. She was worried beyond anything with Ymir's behaviour but tried not to push the brunette because she had been struggling. Well, she had been struggling a moment ago. Krista had noticed her sudden calm.

Ymir opened her eyes and caught Krista's concerned blue gaze. She had made her decision, and with that she slowly lifted her hands and cupped them around Krista's face. She paused afterwards, not wanting to hurt Krista by acting rash, and waited to see if she would pull away. Krista only looked at her with more confusion.

Ymir leaned forward, slowly like before, and felt her heart beat faster the closer her face came to Krista's. She felt much calmer, but her heart was still racing.

Krista didn't move an inch and felt her own heart pound in time with Ymir's.

They both took a breath and then finally Ymir's lips touched Krista's and she nearly whimpered. She didn't dare move and only stayed still, lips pressed together, giving Krista a chance to pull way. But she didn't, so Ymir took that as a good sign and slowly moved her lips.

Ymir was greatly surprised when Krista immediately responded and kissed her back, harder. Ymir felt her body shiver in delight and rose to the challenge, kissing even harder and faster, but Krista matched her in the kiss and kept up. Eventually Ymir wrapped her arms around Krista shivering body and pulled her against her chest. She deepened the kiss, running her tongue along Krista's lower lip and then slipping in when she parted her lips for her.

They both shivered violently at the first brush of Ymir's tongue against Krista's, and then in no time it was a battle for dominance as their tongues caressed and danced together. Ymir won, obviously.

When the kiss ended they leaned their foreheads together and panted together, chests heaving as their hearts still raced.

"Ymir…"

"I wanted to confess to you," Ymir said, "that I love you, Krista. With all my heart. Not a friend type of love, but a romantic type of love." Ymir sucked in a deep breath. "I'm in love with you."

Krista shook her head and leaned back to look into Ymir's eyes that were now clouded with worry and fear. "Don't look so scared, dummy. I love you too. Do you know how long I've been waiting for you to finally tell me?" Krista said, slightly chastising. "Though I must say, I never expected you to do it with a kiss." Krista ran her tongue over her bottom lip, still tasting Ymir's lips on her skin.

"You love me too?" Ymir asked incredulously, eyes wide.

"Of course I do. I've been in love with you since the day you called me a pipsqueak."

Ymir blinked. "You love me." She said softly, almost in a daze. "Krista loves me. You love me!" She suddenly lifted Krista into her arms and spun her around, laughing joyfully while she did it. Krista giggled but protested to be let down, and when she did she tugged at Ymir's shirt until the brunette stopped laughing and leaned down to level their faces.

"You idiot. Sometimes you can be so dense. How could you not see my feelings for you? You gave yourself away long time ago."

"I did?" Ymir blinked. "Why didn't you say something?"

"It was cute." Krista smiled happily and wrapped her arms around Ymir's neck. "But I was also considering just confessing to you because it was getting a bit annoying, having to pretend I didn't want to kiss those perfect lips whenever I stared at you."

"You're staring at me now." Ymir pointed out, staring at Krista's lips.

"I am…" Krista smiled even wider.

"Perfect lips?" Ymir mumbled.

Krista giggled softly and finally pulled Ymir's face back to hers and captured her lips.

They kissed for a long while, finally conveying feelings they hadn't been able to in a long time. It felt beautiful, and it felt right.


	3. The first date

**Chapter 3: The first date (one month later)**

"So, would you like to date me?" Ymir asked nonchalantly. Krista glanced up at her from where she was resting her head on Ymir's lap and squinted.

"Aren't we already dating?"

It had been a month since the confession and since then not much had really changed, except now Ymir and Krista would kiss. A lot. Like, full blown make out sessions. And now their long hugs meant more, and every little touch had deeper meaning. So maybe a lot had changed, though it didn't really feel like it to Ymir since they had always been almost this close.

"No, what I meant was like a date."

"Are you asking me out on a date?"

"Yes."

Krista giggled. "Then say so, silly. Don't go and make it all complicated."

Ymir sighed and rolled her eyes. "Not my fault you're not quick to catch on."

Krista ignored the jibe. "So what would we do on this date?"

"I don't know," Ymir shrugged. "Hang out, I guess."

"We hang out already." Ymir lifted her hand and flicked Krista's forehead. "Ow, what was that for?!"

"You being a stubborn ass when I'm trying to be sweet." Krista pouted and looked away while crossing her arms over her chest. "Oh stop with that pouting." Ymir leaned down and kissed the spot she had flicked and then smoothed the crease between Krista's eyebrows with a second gentle kiss. "Let me try that again." She straightened and returned to leaning against the side of the bed, and then ran a hand through Krista's soft blonde hair. "Would you like to go out on a date with me, Krista?"

The blonde smiled, forgetting the flicking incident almost immediately. "Of course! When and where?"

"I'll pick you up tomorrow night at 7, and the destination is a surprise."

Krista turned onto her side and slipped her hand underneath Ymir's shirt to caress the firm, warm skin. "You've thought this through already, haven't you?" Ymir nodded, enjoying the gentle fingers caressing her toned abs. "Geez, I still can't get over how sexy your stomach is." This made Ymir smirk.

"Yeah, I'm a sexy beast."

Krista sighed wistfully. "You are. And you're my sexy beast. I can't believe I'm so lucky."

Ymir suddenly pulled Krista onto her lap so that her back was resting on her legs and she was facing her girlfriend. Ymir wrapped her hands around each small ankle and guided Krista's legs to rest beside her taller body. "Krista, if anyone is lucky it's me. You deserve better than me, but you fell in love with me so I'm sure as hell not giving that up. Don't sound like managing to be with me is some feat."

Krista sighed softly and caressed the freckled plane of her girlfriend's cheeks. "You're more than I deserve Ymir. No, I think we deserve each other. Can we just agree on that, please? I'm tired of this pointless argument?" Krista cupped a small hand over Ymir's cheek and the brunette closed her eyes and leaned into the touch.

"Of course. I'm sorry for starting it again."

"Don't apologise, just kiss me and make me forget about the conversation."

Ymir grinned and complied with her love's wishes. She leaned forward and pulled Krista against her chest as she gently kissed her. The brunette was always so gentle with Krista and it made the blonde utterly melt with love.

"Mm," Krista said after the kiss ended. "You are also a fantastic kisser."

"I am." Ymir was shameless, but it made Krista giggle. "So, tomorrow at 7, got it? Dress comfortably."

"Okay." Krista leaned forward and rested her forehead against Ymir's. She was so content and full of love that she felt like laughing giddily and dancing. She had done that once and Ymir had never let her live it down, so she calmed her inner excitement and just slumped against her girlfriend. Krista buried her face against Ymir's neck and elicited a low groan. "I don't want to do homework."

Ymir chuckled. "That's my line."

"I know but for once I just want to sit here and smell you." Krista snuggled closer against Ymir. "You smell nice." She admitted softly.

Ymir's heart soared. "If that's want you want, my little Krista, then we'll just sit here until your mom kicks me out again."

Krista laughed, making Ymir shiver when her hot breath brushed against the sensitive skin on her neck. "Yeah, mom adores you but she hates having to wrestle with you to leave."

"I can't help it that I never want to leave your side. I hate having to go."

"Awww," Krista leaned back to kiss Ymir's chin. "Someone is so whipped."

"Oh please, you feel exactly the same."

"I do." Krista kissed her chin again and then rested back down into her former position. "Now, about this date. You won't tell me anything?"

"Nope."

"Please."

"No."

"I'll flash my boobs to you."

There was a pause and Ymir sucked in a deep breath. "No."

"Awww." Krista sighed in defeat but accepted it. It was a dirty tactic to use, and one that she used often, but it wouldn't work this time. They remained silent for a long time, just cuddling and listening to each other's heartbeat.

"Ymir?"

"Mm?"

"I love you."

Ymir's heart skipped a beat. "I love you too."

"Enough to give me a little hint?"

"Yes but no."

Krista sighed but giggled. Ymir could be stubborn when she wanted to be, which tended to be all the time.

XxX

The next day early night fell faster than Ymir had anticipated and she slowly approached the front door to Krista's house. Her stomach fluttered and her heart beat in excitement. This was going to be awesome and Ymir could barely contain her excitement and anticipation at all.

She rang the bell and shifted the bag slung over her shoulder. The brunette exhaled a string of air and tried not to fidget as she waited.

Moments later the door opened and a blonde woman answered. "Ymir!" She said in mock surprise and darted her eyes from Ymir to Krista's room down the hall. "Want me to call her?" Ymir grinned down at Krista's tiny mother whose face and mannerisms were almost identical to the blonde and looked up, resting her eyes on Krista's door.

"No need for that, mom! I'm done!" Krista bolted out of her room and walked as fast as possible to the door.

"Aw honey, you look gorgeous." Mrs Renz gave Krista a bone crushing hug, and then she hiccupped and started tearing up. "You're going on your first date. They grow up so fast." Ymir and Krista just stared at her as she sniffled. "Oh! I'll give you your privacy." She leaned up to give Ymir a welcoming hug that was slightly too tight – probably because it was a threat of bodily harm if Ymir did anything to Krista – and disappeared into the lounge.

"Your mom is right, you do look gorgeous." Ymir wrapped her arms around her lover and buried her face against her neck. When she got her fill she put her back down, ignoring the pout, and raised an eyebrow. "But you'll need sneakers. Those shoes won't work."

Krista looked down at her strapped shoes. "What's wrong with these?"

"Nothing, but change them."

"Why?"

"Krista."

"I won't unless you tell me why!"

Ymir sighed in exasperation and picked Krista up bridal style. The blonde squeaked in surprise and protested along the way as she was carried back to her room. Ymir dropped her back down and went to her cupboard where she found a pair of shoes that would do and placed them on the ground in front of Krista. "Put them on."

"No." Krista puffed her cheeks up and looked off to the side.

Ymir rolled her eyes and bent down to put the shoes on for Krista herself. Her girlfriend uttered a gasp of surprise when she felt familiar big hands grip her ankle and watched in amusement as her love removed her shoes and replaced them with the sneakers.

"There." Ymir gave her ankle a pat and stood back up. "Now that we've wasted ten minutes, let's hurry before we're late." She grabbed Krista's hand and pulled her out of the house.

"Where are we going?" Krista asked and intertwined their fingers. She leaned against Ymir's side and looked up at her through her long lashes, looking absolutely adorable. But Ymir wasn't swayed.

"Krista, aren't I the difficult one between the two of us?"

"Sorry." Krista said softly and lowered her head.

Ymir sighed and stopped to lift Krista's chin and look into her eyes. "Don't be sorry, just be patient. We're almost there." She leaned down and gave Krista a soft kiss on the lips and then returned to walking down the road.

Krista remained quiet and just walked beside Ymir to where ever they were going. Looking ahead the blonde noticed their school come into view and sent Ymir a quizzical gaze, but the brunette just kept on walking with her eyes locked onto the school.

"Almost there." Ymir assured when they started walking around the school to the back of the area. "Okay, I'm going to climb up here and then pull you up, alright?" Ymir let Krista's hand go and grabbed a branch of a tree. Krista eyed the situation suspiciously and realized they were breaking into the school. "Nu-uh!" Ymir saw the protest coming and stepped onto the wall from the tree. She crouched down, one hand gripping the wall and used the other to reach down. "Just trust me and jump over this wall with me."

Krista hesitated slightly but sighed and took Ymir's hand. The taller girl hoisted her up with hardly any effort, secured Krista against her chest with one arm and then jumped down from the wall. She landed with a soft thud and then straightened and grinned. "Now follow me again." Ymir said after putting Krista back on her feet and taking her hand.

They walked through the school grounds, passing by the buildings of classrooms and the garden where most students hung out during lunch. It was so weird being here at night, though it was strangely exhilarating.

"Okay." Ymir paused and pulled a blindfold out of the bag on her shoulder. "I need to cover your eyes." Remembering Ymir's earlier request for her not to be so difficult, Krista simply nodded and allowed her girlfriend to tie the material over her eyes. "You can trust me." Krista knew she could. She trusted Ymir with her life. "Hold onto the back of my shirt and follow me." Krista did as instructed.

She tried to follow their path in her mind with her memory of the area but Ymir was doing extra turns, probably to stop Krista from properly guessing their location, and then finally they came to a stop some minutes later.

"I need you to just stand here for a bit. Don't move." Krista dropped her hands and waited patiently. She could hear Ymir rummaging around in her bag and pulling things out, but the rest of the noises left her guessing.

Finally Ymir returned and stood behind Krista with her hands firmly but gently placed on her shoulders. "I know this isn't that extravagant, but I wanted our first date to mean more than a night out in town with annoying people." She removed the blindfold and waited for Krista's reaction.

"Oh Ymir." Krista immediately teared up.

They were standing by the bench where they had first sat together and where Ymir had finally confessed. A blanket was draped over the bench, with candles lining the top of the backrest. Red and white rose petals were scattered around the bench and on the blanket sat a lunchbox and a bottle.

"Hey, I did this to make you happy, not to make you cry." Ymir had rounded Krista and gently wiped the tears away.

"I'm crying because I'm happy." The blonde sniffed and buried herself against Ymir's chest. "This is the sweetest thing anyone has ever done for me." Ymir returned the hug and guided Krista over to the bench. She sat down and allowed Krista to curl up on her lap.

"So you like it?"

"I love it." Krista wiped the remaining tears away and gave Ymir the most radiant smile the brunette had ever seen. It made her heart skip a beat and then warm. If she could see that smile every day she would do things like this as much as possible, despite how sappy and ridiculous she felt.

"I obviously brought food. And strawberries!"

"Oh, can we start with the strawberries?"

Ymir paused in her reach for the lunchbox and gave Krista a raised eyebrow. "Are you sure?"

"Yes. I want to feed them to you. You deserve it." Ymir chuckled and relented. Not everyone got the chance of being fed sexy fruit by a gorgeous angel very often.

They spent the rest of the night eating and talking, laughing in between and kissing. When they kissed it was long and slow, occasionally heated and passionate, but mostly just love filled and gentle.

Around 9 p.m. the school guard showed up and Ymir and Krista were forced to flee, laughing as they ran to escape the angry man chasing after them. Somehow Ymir had managed to shove everything in her bag and slung it over her shoulders hurriedly. She swooped Krista into her arms and took off fast, gaining much more speed without the little blonde slowing her down because of her short legs.

Incredibly Ymir managed to get them safely over the wall and continued running until the school disappeared behind them. When they paused to rest – Ymir needing it more than Krista – they looked at each other and laughed.

That had been scary, but it was worth it.


	4. Moving in together

**Chapter 4: Moving in together (five years later)**

Ymir stalked into the house and dropped a box just inside of the front door. She released a tired breath and wiped a hand over her sweat covered forehead.

"Is that the last one?" Krista called from the kitchen, having heard the sound of the box landing on the wooden floor.

"Yep. Where are you?"

"In the kitchen."

Ymir followed the voice and went into the kitchen to find her love standing by the counter. "What are you doing?" Ymir husked softly and wrapped her arms around Krista from behind. She rested her chin on the blonde's head and peered into the box her small lover had been unpacking. It was the one filled with their utensils.

"Unpacking the last of the kitchen stuff." Krista answered. "I wanted to get the kitchen done first, and then we should work on our bedroom next."

Ymir nodded in satisfaction and moved away to collect the empty boxes littering the floor. She piled them up on top of each other and tossed the combined pile out of the room into the lounge.

Krista finally finished with the last of the stuff and shut the drawer, satisfied with her hard work. "Who knew moving in together would be so much hard work?"

"But it's worth it." Ymir sauntered back over to her love and lifted her up onto the counter. Krista smiled and wrapped her arms around Ymir's neck. "We finally have a place of our own. Living with your parents for a as long as we did was painful."

"Yeah, but at least they gave us a lot of privacy."

"Not enough. It was so awkward in the mornings with your father. He's a really nice man but he gets all moody when he knows I'm having sex with his daughter."

Krista laughed. "Yeah, mom would always cringe when I trotted into the kitchen wearing nothing but your shirt."

"I love that." Ymir brushed her nose against Krista's and then kissed her on the lips. "You look so sexy in nothing but my shirt."

Krista kissed her back. "And you look sexy in nothing at all." The blonde wiggled her eyebrows, making Ymir laugh out loud at how weird it looked.

"Alright, come on spider monkey. Let's finish up with our house." Ymir turned around and pointed a thumb at her back. Krista giggled and koala'd onto Ymir's back, legs hooked around her midsection and arms around her neck.

"Onwards, to the rest of the boxes!"

Ymir walked into the lounge and dropped down in front of a box with the label 'memories' drawn sloppily on the top.

"I wonder who labelled this." Krista commented with a grin. Ymir rolled her eyes and ignored the comment as she opened the box and peered inside. "Oh! Our pictures!" Krista unlatched herself from Ymir's body and shuffled up beside her. "Do you remember this day? We finally came out." Krista held a framed picture in her hand of Ymir and Krista standing in the middle of their friends. It had been a stressful day but they made it through thanks to their understanding friends and family. Sasha had vehemently insisted on capturing the moment and had ended up asking a random elderly man to snap the picture of them. They had been at a park so the background was of the grassy, tree filled park with a blue sky.

"That was a weird day."

"I thought it was nice. Everyone accepted us!"

"Uh, no. You're remembering wrong." Ymir flicked Krista on the forehead. "They already knew we were together, they only kept it to themselves."

Krista sighed. "Such a spoil sport. Oh! Our graduation photo." Krista pulled another framed picture out of the box.

It was of the day they graduated high school together. Krista was wrapped around Ymir's stomach, Ymir was giving her overly excited girlfriend a pat on the head and they were holding their certificates up. Ymir looked bored as usual but Krista had been having the time of her life.

Ymir smiled. "You wouldn't stop yelling out how I passed. Was it that surprising?"

"You bunked more classes than you attended and I don't remember you ever studying."

"That's because I have a photographic memory. I don't need to study to know the shit."

The blonde packed the pictures back into the box and pulled Ymir up with her. "Let's get our clothes packed out, Mrs Photographic Memory."

Ymir rolled her eyes and let her lover pull her into their room. It was big, with a sliding door in the corner leading out into a patio. The carpet was black and really soft to walk on – they would know because they were barefoot – and the walls were a light grey colour. A double bed sat in the centre of the room pushed up against the wall, but the plastic around it hadn't been removed yet. Thanks to Krista's parents they had been able to virtually buy everything new.

They started on the suitcases containing all of their clothes and besides Ymir making naughty jokes while handling Krista's underwear they completed the task without hassle. After the cupboards were neatly full they set the bed up and made the bed with the black duvet set Krista had insisted on getting.

Really, Ymir actually hadn't chosen any of the things they had bought, but she really didn't care and was glad to just nod and go along with what Krista wanted.

"This bed is going to get a lot of action." Ymir commented with a lecherous grin after they had finished straightening the blanket out.

"Says who?" Krista shot back playfully.

"No one needs to say anything. You can't resist me."

"Have you forgotten that I was able to resist you for a year until you finally confessed?"

Ymir raised an eyebrow and rounded the bed towards her love. "How many times must I ask you to stop bringing that up? I was a total loser in high school and you terrified me with your angelic hair and gorgeous eyes and that laugh that fucks with my head because it's so beautiful."

"Aw, look at you, being all romantic." Krista taunted and backed up away from her advancing girlfriend.

"You can't escape me!" Ymir bolted forward and caught Krista, threw her onto the bed and then crawled on top of her. "I'll always catch you, pipsqueak."

"Ymir!"

Ymir started ticking the blonde's sides, making her writhe and giggle and beg to be released. Ymir was a sadist so she didn't stop until Krista was red in the face from the laughing. Ymir slumped to the side and Krista allowed her to pull her onto her chest as she focused on relieving the throbbing in her head and her heavy breathing.

"We should get back to unpacking." Krista suggested.

"We should." Ymir agreed. Neither moved. "Or we can break this bed in." She glanced down at Krista who was looking up at her with a little grin.

"Is that all you ever think about?"

"Pretty much." Ymir grinned rakishly. She wasn't ashamed of her insatiable desire for Krista, and though she complained about Ymir's perverted comments and jokes, the blonde enjoyed the looks Ymir would give her. It felt good to be so wanted and to see it so plainly in Ymir's eyes.

Ymir slipped a hand under Krista's shirt and started caressing her taut abdomen. "Unpacking doesn't seem so appealing anymore."

Krista turned and crawled up along Ymir's body until their lips were barely touching. "For once I have to completely agree with you." She leaned down and captured Ymir's lips between her own.

It was safe to say that the house wasn't completed that day, nor the next.


	5. Reminiscing of our first time

**Chapter 5: Reminiscing of our first time (eight months later)**

Krista eyes fluttered open and she was greeted with the wonderful sight of the curve of her lover's back. Ymir was asleep, resting on her stomach with her head turned in Krista's direction. The blonde was sleeping beside her and on the pillow beside their heads rested their hands, clasped and fingers interlocked.

She smiled. They had been living properly together for 8 months now and she finally came to understand exactly how insatiable Ymir really was. Who knew she had been holding back when they had still lived with Krista's parents?

They made love almost every night, if not then every second. That went on for the first 7 months, though the last month they hadn't really been able to be intimate.

Ymir had finally found a job at a local car repair shop and Krista had been swamped with assignments and tests for university. That is what led them to nearly breaking the house down the previous night after finally giving in and just ravishing each other.

Krista turned onto her side and used her free hand to caress a line down Ymir's toned back. The muscles rippled under her touch, making Krista flush slightly and move until she was pressed up against that soft, warm skin.

Ymir moaned softly at the feel of Krista's breasts and very hard nipples pressing into her back so expectantly. "Mm, someone's already excited." Ymir spoke up sleepily. She released the hand she had held all night and pulled Krista to her chest. She had moved onto her side and moulded herself against Krista's back. "I'm still sleepy though."

"I wasn't trying to wake you." Krista said. "I was just touching this flawless back of yours."

"Mm, touch it later. Just wanna cuddle now." Ymir buried her nose in Krista's hair and sighed in content. "Smells nice." She said softly with a hum, referring to Krista's hair.

"Okay Ymir, we can cuddle." Krista smiled brightly and wrapped her arms around Ymir's arm wrapped around her stomach. There were no words for how much she loved that difficult brunette, especially when Ymir went all cute like she was now. It also helped that they were both wonderfully naked, and the skin on skin contact made Krista's heart swell and beat in time with Ymir's.

Being intimate like this, connecting with someone on such a deep level, even so simply just from cuddling, felt beyond amazing.

They dozed off together for another hour, just snuggling and breathing in sync. Ymir was more asleep than Krista was, so the blonde rested with her eyes closed and listened contentedly to the deep, even breaths of her love, and felt the steady pulse from Ymir gently vibrating against the skin on her back. A thought suddenly hit Krista and she turned around, jostling Ymir awake.

"Ymir?"

Ymir blinked her eyes open and squinted at Krista splayed out across her chest. Krista had moved Ymir onto her back and crawled on top of her. She rested her arms across Ymir's chest and then her chin on her arms, staring up at Ymir's sleepy eyes with affection and warmth.

"I'm sorry for waking you again."

Ymir grumbled and ran a hand over her face to regain a bit more of her consciousness. "No, it's okay. It's my day off so I've got all day to sleep. So? What's wrong?" Ymir yawned widely, making Krista giggled.

"I was just lying there feeling you breathing and I thought about our first time."

"Our first time?" The brunette slightly arched her body as she stretched like a cat, arms and legs thrust out to satisfyingly pull her muscles, lifting Krista in the process, and then she relaxed back down on the bed, feeling more awake now.

"The first time we made love." Krista started drawing circles across Ymir's bronzed skin and smiled. "You were so dorky that day."

"I didn't expect it to happen so soon."

"I couldn't control myself. It was the day after that amazing first date and you made me fall incredibly hard for you all over again."

Ymir's heart skipped a beat. "I would have been cooler about it but I was terrified of hurting you."

"It's taken you forever to finally admit that without us ending up in a massive argument."

Ymir grumbled. "Yeah, well, it's not important."

"I think it was cute. You were adorably shy though very attentive." Krista pushed herself up and moved her body upwards, causing her breasts to graze across Ymir's skin and awaken the brunette's desire. Before the blonde could even reach her lips like she had intended she was flipped onto her back with a much larger body pinning her down to the mattress.

"Since you woke me up when I was busy dreaming of you, I deserve the right to do whatever I want with you." Ymir said with a rakish grin.

Krista's heart started pounding and she wrapped her arms around Ymir's lower back, pulling the brunette down against her. She moaned softly when Ymir's firm thigh pressed against her centre. "Just this once I'll let you." Krista breathed, knowing full well that it wasn't the first time and wouldn't be the last. Ymir had had her way with her blonde lover all over the house, whenever the need had hit her.

"Krista," Ymir pushed up onto her hands that were on either side of Krista's head and looked into her eyes as she moved against her to see her reaction.

Krista's eyes fluttered closed and she moaned, loving the wonderful sensations and the burning in her body. "Ymir, please just take me." She managed to utter. What she craved was passionate love making, not the gentleness Ymir sometimes decided on.

The taller of the two bit down on her lip and started a fast rocking against Krista's slick centre. She could feel the heat and wetness slide against her skin as she slid against Krista, and it made her absolutely crazy. Deciding to give Krista what she wanted, Ymir leaned down and started kissing along Krista's throat and then snaked her hand down between them. The hand disappeared between their bodies and Krista cried out as two fingers suddenly thrust into her.

A violent shiver rocked down her spine from the unexpected and delicious sensation.

Ymir continued to use her thigh to thrust her fingers harder, rocking them both against each other. By now Ymir was breathing hard and her heart was pounding in her ears. Krista's moans of passion were one of Ymir's biggest turn-on's, and she felt her own orgasm approaching just from that.

They moved together for a while, moaning, nails raking, kissing with tongue and teeth, until Ymir felt Krista's silken walls flutter and tighten around her fingers. She grinned to herself and placed her lips against the soft spot between Krista's neck and shoulders.

"Oh god Ymir, I'm… so close…" Krista panted, nails dug deeply into Ymir's shoulders. The brunette didn't care. "Ymir…. I love you so much… Ymir!" Krista's head slammed back down on the pillow as Ymir bit roughly into her skin at precisely the right moment, sending her over the edge and into orgasmic bliss.

"I've got you." Ymir stopped her pleasurable actions and pulled Krista in her arms where she let the blonde shiver slightly and come down from heaven. When she did Krista sighed and snuggled closer to Ymir's chest. She placed her lips against her girlfriend's neck and felt her fluttering pulse.

"I love you Ymir."

Ymir placed a kiss on her brow and ran a hand through her damp hair. "I love you too Krista, more than I can express."

Krista giggled. "That's my line." She felt a big, strong hand gently rub circles against her lower back and closed her eyes in delight. Ymir didn't respond and simply laid there staring up at the ceiling with a goofy grin on her face.

"That was a wonderful way to wake up." The brunette commented.

"And a wonderful way to go back to sleep." Krista mumbled in reply. Her eyes were already shut and her body was readily growing more relaxed as she felt sleep close in.

"Okay." Ymir yawned softly and rested her chin against the crown of Krista's head. A little hand found hers resting on her stomach and intertwined their fingers. "Sleep tight, my little angel." Ymir said softly and closed her eyes too.

Krista was too gone to reply, but awake enough to hear the affectionate words and smiled as her heart swelled with love.


	6. Pop the question

**Chapter 6: Pop the question (one year, three months later)**

Ymir paced in frustration, a hand running through her hair and her teeth biting into her bottom lip.

"I don't think you should do anything big." Sasha commented from where she sat watching her friend pace. "Krista won't care how you ask her."

Ymir nodded and waved her hand dismissively. "I know. But I want it to be perfect. She deserves that."

"She doesn't want perfect. Come on Ymir, you know how Krista is. She really won't be upset if you don't make it some big show."

Ymir sighed, surprised at how right Sasha actually was. The girl wasn't usually this sane so early in the morning.

Ymir had been trying to think of how to ask Krista to marry her for a full month. She and Krista had eventually spoken about marriage and taking the final step, though it was mere pillow talk. But Ymir took it to heart.

She wanted to make Krista her wife, but she was unsure of how to go about asking. Her lover cared more for meaning than extravagance, so Sasha truly was right. But it didn't mean Ymir didn't want to impress her love.

"Did you get a ring?" Sasha asked.

"Yeah. They finally finished it yesterday so I picked it up last night."

They lapsed into thoughtful silence as they both wondered the best course of action. What would Krista want most?

She definitely just preferred staying home with Ymir to spend time, so going out wouldn't have the best effect.

Suddenly an idea hit. "Sasha, thanks for the help, but I think I know what to do." Ymir grinned triumphantly to herself and felt her stress drain away. Sasha tilted her head to the side in question but then she grinned and gave Ymir two thumbs up. "Now I need to get back to work."

Ymir pushed off from the car she had been leaning against and returned to examining the open bonnet of the car and all of the mechanical objects inside.

Sasha had answered an urgent call from her friend and hurried over to Ymir's work to calm her down and help her, but now it seemed that her work was done so she simply sat back on the table she was using as a seat and swung her legs back and forth. The lighter brunette smiled. She loved seeing her friend worry over Krista like she did because she thought they were the cutest couple ever.

"Well, I think I'll go back home to Mikasa. She wasn't too pleased with me jumping out of bed." Sasha smiled sheepishly and headed for the exit. "Bye! Good luck with making your future!" She called over her shoulder and disappeared through the door.

Ymir just grinned as she watched her back and then turned her eyes back to her busy hands.

XxX

The rest of the day Ymir had been in high spirits. She got off of work early to return home and prepare for the big night.

When Krista returned home in the early evening from her late classes she found her lover in the kitchen, cooking while humming to herself. It was both an amusing and heart-warming sight.

"Someone is in a good mood." Krista commented and dropped her bag on the kitchen table.

"Oh? I didn't notice." Ymir looked over her shoulder with a grin and felt her heart skip a beat. She stopped what she was doing at the stove and pulled Krista into her arms, leaned down and kissed her long and hard.

"Wow, what did I do to deserve that?" Krista exhaled, trying to catch her breath from that mind numbing kiss.

"Nothing. I just love you." She leaned down to kiss her again and cupped her hands over Krista's ass, making her love squeak in surprise when she gave her a quick squeeze. "Why don't you get a movie started and I'll get our food done?" She whispered into the blonde's small ear.

Krista wondered why Ymir was being more wonderful than usual but she wasn't about to complain so she gave Ymir one more hard peck on the lips and then skipped into the lounge to do as she was told. Ymir watched her go with an excited grin. She quickly plated the food and went to Krista who had just taken a seat on the couch. Ymir handed a plate over to her and took a seat beside her.

"What are we watching?" Ymir asked, noticing that Krista had put a movie in.

"That romance movie we saw last week."

"We're watching it again?" Ymir grumbled, displeased.

"I liked it..." Krista offered softly, waiting for Ymir to say something snarky or mean about having to be put through the torture again, but it didn't come.

"Okay." Ymir rested the plate on her lap and draped her arm over Krista's shoulders. "This movie is fine then."

"Ymir? Are you feeling okay?" Krista felt Ymir's forehead for a temperature because she was genuinely worried. Her girlfriend was never this sweet for so long without a good reason.

Ymir raised an eyebrow. "I make dinner for us and you think I'm getting sick or something? Am I that horrible most of the time?" Krista hurriedly shook her head. "Then thank me with a kiss and enjoy this orgasmic food I made for you." Ymir said sternly.

Krista smiled and gave Ymir that kiss she wanted, and then she snuggled against her love's body and started with the food – it really was just as orgasmic as Ymir had said, since Krista couldn't stop moaning with every bite, making Ymir swallow the sudden dryness from her throat – and pressed play on the DVD remote to get the movie going.

They ate and watched the TV in silence, and when the food had been completely consumed they placed the empty plates on the coffee table and returned to cuddling. The movie had already reached its climax and the very ending had just started to play. The characters were walking down an aisle, holding hands with happy grins on their faces. All around them their friends and family cheered.

_What an appropriate movie for the occasion. Does Krista have future reading abilities or something?_ Ymir grinned to herself at the thought. She pulled Krista against her chest and leaned down on the couch, stretching her long body across the three-seater. The blonde rested comfortably on top of her and Ymir wrapped her arms around Krista's small body. Thankfully Krista hardly weighed anything to Ymir, so doing things like this was a regular, everyday thing for them and it provided no hassle. It didn't even give Ymir a workout.

"How was class today?" Ymir enquired. The movie had officially ended and the end credits were rolling. Darkness filled the room since the only source of light was the scarce bit glowing off of the television screen.

"It was fine. We got a new assignment though."

"I'm sure you'll get it done soon. And neglect me while you do it." Ymir said, sounding pouty.

"Aww, I'll try my best to multi task and love you while doing my project."

"Baby I didn't know you were that talented." Ymir grinned rakishly. Krista stared at her for a minute before she got the joke and blushed.

"I didn't mean during sex! Geez, Ymir. As if I could focus on anything other than you when we make love."

"We'd probably just mess on your papers too."

"Or get a pen stuck somewhere it shouldn't be…"

Ymir's chest rumbled with her laugh and Krista enjoyed every second of that vibration. "Wouldn't want to mistake a pen for my finger." Ymir added and then laughed again at the mental image.

"Anyway, how was work today? Anything interesting happen?" The blonde asked in an attempt to change the subject and scooted up to place a kiss on Ymir's chin.

"Some rich kid crashed his dad's shit expensive car so he came to us in tears this afternoon. I managed to blackmail him into paying us a hefty amount to get that car fixed before tomorrow evening."

"Ymir! That's terrible."

"He's one of those prissy assholes, so I don't feel any guilt. Not like I would anyway. I mean come on, he's asking us to do a secret super rush job. We all deserve a fat bonus for that. He was willing to give his balls to us to fix it."

"I didn't even know the place was so good that someone would demand this of you."

Ymir shrugged. "We're the only local repair garage. He doesn't have the time to get the car towed to another town, so he was smart enough to come crying to us."

"I'm sure you will be able to fix it in time. You are amazing with your hands, Ymir."

"Mm," Ymir slipped her hands underneath Krista's shirt and ran her fingers along her sides. "You would definitely know."

Krista shivered at the hot touch, knowing all too well what this inevitably led to. "Of course I do. I'm lucky enough to have those gifted hands touch me…" She leaned forward and pressed her lips to Ymir's ear and spoke in a hushed, sexy whisper, "in the most wonderful places."

Ymir growled deeply in her chest. Krista moved up to start a long, passionate kiss and slipped her hand down Ymir's hard abdomen and into her pants. The blonde moaned against Ymir's lips as she dropped her hand lower and felt how wet her lover was already.

It was normally Ymir that started and Krista who had the first orgasm, but Krista was in a mood and decided to give Ymir a reward for her wonderful actions.

She sat up and quickly pulled her own shirt off, followed by her bra. Ymir reached up to cup Krista's breasts but the blonde caught her wrists and pinned them beside Ymir's head. "Not tonight. You sit there and enjoy while I do all of the work." Ymir opened her mouth to protest but paused to watch Krista remove her pants and slip out of her panties.

After she was fully naked Krista went to work on getting Ymir in the same state. With every new inch of skin exposed the blonde placed hot kisses, biting when the mood hit and caressing the tasty skin with her tongue.

Ymir had never seen Krista so dominating before and it turned her on like hell. Her breathing was ragged, eyes heavy lidded with lust and her heart was pounding. Her hands itched to move away from where they rested behind her head and touch Krista, to ravish her in every way. But for once Ymir would obey and let Krista be in charge.

They were both finally naked, Ymir still reclined on her back with a flushed Krista sitting on her lower abdomen, legs hooked around her hips. Ymir could feel Krista's wetness smear hotly across her skin and shivered violently from the wave of arousal it brought. She wanted to switch their positions, to taste that wonderful wetness and plunge in with her tongue, but she also wanted to remain submissive, to take everything Krista had to offer.

No words were needed. They locked eyes, burning blue with intense brown, and then Krista pulled Ymir's head closer for a kiss at the same time as she sat back, fitting snuggling between Ymir's legs. They moaned when their wetness touched, and then Ymir bit down harshly on Krista's lip when the blonde started rocking her hips, rubbing against her.

"Shit Krista, that feels so fucking good." She hissed, unable to focus on the kiss anymore. Ymir fell back down and started moving her hips as well, meeting Krista halfway for each thrust.

"That's the idea here." Krista commented breathlessly. She gripped Ymir's lifted leg for support and used her free hand to take hold of the backrest of the couch.

They moved together for a while, torn between going fast, hard, intense, and slow and passionate. When they were both nearing the peak Ymir sat up and wrapped her arms around Krista's sweat slicked body.

"Krista.

"Ymir..." Krista moaned her lover's name, body tingling and aching at the same time. The movements were tiresome, but amazingly pleasurable.

"Krista." Ymir said again, sounding clearer and more serious. She wrapped her hand around the back of Krista's head and pulled her closer until their foreheads were touching.

"Oh god, Ymir, I'm so close." Krista panted, hands now gripping Ymir's shoulders and nails digging into her skin.

"Marry me, Krista." Ymir said softly, heart pounding in her throat.

Krista's eyes shot open and the moment she registered the words she came. Her body arched into Ymir and the brunette held onto her, her own orgasm rushing over her as well. Their bodies tensed for long seconds, and then Ymir rested back down and Krista curled up against her chest, breathing slowly calming down.

When the excitement abated and their minds cleared, Krista found Ymir's hand and intertwined their fingers. "Were you serious?" She asked softly, afraid that Ymir had just been caught up in the moment.

Ymir sighed but smiled softly. She shifted and lifted Krista's chin to look into her eyes. "Krista, will you marry me, and become my wife?" She asked in all seriousness, but her eyes softened with affection.

Krista held her breath, waiting for the dream to be over. But it wasn't a dream, and Ymir was staring at her with fear in her eyes, patiently waiting for Krista to say something or to react.

"Oh my god." Krista covered her mouth with a hand and held back a sob. "Seriously? Are you really proposing?"

Ymir snatched her pants from the floor and dug around in the pocket. She found what she was looking for and pulled a small box from her pants. Ymir presented Krista with the box and placed it down on her chest, between her breasts. "Open it." Ymir said softly.

Krista did as she was told and opened the box, only to sob softly when she saw the beautiful diamond ring sitting snug in the centre of the box. "Ymir..."

"Is that a yes?"

"Yes! Of course yes!" Krista watched with tears streaming down her face as Ymir removed the ring and slipped it over her finger.

"And with this, you're stuck with me forever." Ymir said with a grin.

"I wouldn't want to be stuck with anyone else." Krista started a full out sob and buried her face against Ymir's neck, wetting her skin with her salty tears.

Ymir sighed and shook her head, never understanding some girls and their intense emotions, but comforted Krista and refrained from commenting on how she should be happy, not crying.

"I love you." Krista spoke up, tears now gone. She calmed down and simply laid there, forehead pressed to Ymir's neck, cheek against her shoulder and eyes glued to the ring shining proudly on her finger. "I was so scared that you'd never ask me."

"Getting married won't change anything, but it will tell the world that you belong to me more solidly than the title "girlfriend" implies." Ymir kissed Krista's brow. "Besides, thinking about you as my wife is hot."

Krista giggled. "Next you'll be telling me you want kids."

Ymir swallowed. "Whoa, not so soon. Just be happy with the ring for now."

"You'd make beautiful babies."

"I don't have the needed body parts."

"You don't need the body parts. Science has progressed enough that you can still father our babies."

"I'm not ready to be a daddy yet."

Krista giggled, her heart swelling with love and joy. "I love you, Ymir."

"Yeah, love you too." Ymir hugged Krista closer and smiled victoriously.

What better way to propose than in the throes of passion?


	7. The bachelorette party

**Chapter 7: The bachelorette party (five months later)**

"So, what did Sasha say?" Ymir asked, turning the steering wheel of the car.

"She said to meet her at this address. Apparently she got stuck in a window or something."

"Doesn't surprise me." Krista laughed and Ymir simply shook her head. "Why didn't she contact Mikasa to help her out?"

"Well, she said she didn't want Mikasa to get mad at her."

Ymir sighed. "Don't know how Mikasa manages to tolerate Sasha."

"She doesn't tolerate her, she accepts and loves her. Like I do with you. Do you know how difficult you can be?" Krista said.

Ymir took her eyes off of the road for a moment to give Krista an unimpressed look and then shrugged her shoulders. "Whatever."

"Oh don't get like that. I wasn't trying to insult you." Krista reached out and caressed Ymir's cheek. The brunette leaned into the touch.

"Good, 'cause you know how I can get when I'm butt-hurt." Ymir smirked when Krista giggled.

"You and that saying."

"What? 'Butthurt'?"

"Yeah, it makes it sound like I give it to you up the butt."

Ymir choked on her laughter and then snorted rather ungracefully. "You don't have the right equipment to even do that."

Krista folded her arms and pouted. "I could always go and buy a toy."

Ymir made a mock impressed sound. "Oh, that sounds wonderful, my little dominating anal mistress."

"Shut up." Krista was blushing bright red at her lover's bluntness while Ymir just laughed again.

"Oh, we're here." Ymir turned onto the road Sasha had given them via SMS and parked the car in front of a two story building. "What the hell is Sasha even doing here? It's pretty far out from where we all live."

"And it doesn't look very busy." Krista noticed the homeless man sitting at the corner of the street and eyed the other buildings. They were all made of dark brick, with sandy red roof tiles and windows with the curtains shut tight. Besides the homeless man and the two walking towards the big double doors of the building, the place was empty. There was only one other car parked a few spaces away from their car. Strange. "We'll never know when it comes to Sasha," Krista commented on her lover's earlier exclamation. "She finds herself in the oddest situations."

Ymir snorted in reply and pushed the double doors open.

"SURPRISE!" People jumped out from hiding and started rooting and cheering. Ymir had immediately pulled Krista behind her to protect her, and then she blinked, and blinked again, and looked over at Sasha standing in the front line of their group of friends.

"Sasha?" Ymir growled, thoroughly unimpressed.

"Oooh, a surprise party? For what?" Krista peeked around her lover's tense body and ran her eyes over the rich interior of the building. It was a two story but there was no actual second floor. There was a balcony that lined the walls at roughly where a second floor would be that told of one that had once existed, lined with comfortable looking couches with coffee tables beside them.

"A surprise bachelorette party." Mikasa clarified from behind them. She offered a small smile and pushed the doors shut and then returned to Sasha's side, expression calm and collected like always. "It was Sasha's idea."

Ymir felt her temple throb and abruptly turned to Krista. "Did you know about this?" She growled between bared teeth, heart pounding from her rage.

Krista swallowed and shook her head. "I'm as surprised as you, I promise." She remained still as Ymir stared into her eyes for a long moment, waiting for her to crack, and when she didn't the brunette concluded that she was telling the truth. Ymir turned to their friends that were watching uneasily and noticed that some of them had decided to start the party anyway. The DJ was setting her music up, preparing to blast some of the most exciting and raucous songs. "What the fuck is this?!" Ymir yelled. "I specifically said that I did **not** want a damn bachelor party."

"Bachelorette party." Mikasa corrected and didn't flinch when Ymir turned her burning glare on her.

"I can't believe you still –" Ymir was stopped short when Krista pulled her down and distracted her with a delicious kiss. When the blonde released her tongue and lips and pulled away Ymir was in a daze, unable to remember what she had been upset about earlier. Ymir simply blinked at her fiancé who had turned to smile at her friends, those that were still waiting for the couple's approval.

"This is amazing, guys. Thank you. Ymir might be an ass," at the sound of the word 'ass' – which was the only one she could hear in her dazed state – Ymir's eyes immediately glued to her lover's cute ass and she felt the urge to give it a squeeze, "until she gets over herself, but we do appreciate this. I didn't really want a bachelorette party either, but this was really thoughtful." Krista slapped Ymir's hands away from her backside and grabbed them to stop them from trying to grope her again.

"Sorry for surprising you like this Krista, but I really wanted to do something nice for you guys!" Sasha exclaimed in excitement. "I mean, my friends are getting married! We all need to celebrate!" She threw her arms in the air and the group all cheered with her. At that moment the music started up and the fancy building was filled with pulsing, loud beats. The lights dimmed, it being late in the afternoon enough and the building hardly having any light to begin with, and strobe lights started flickering and bouncing off of the walls. Somewhere a fog machine started and then everyone went wild.

"Krista." The commotion had startled Ymir out of her love induced haze and now she was pissed off again. "I don't want to do this." She whined.

"Oh hush," Krista replied by Ymir's ear, as the brunette had done to her due to the loud music, and gave her waist a tight hug. "Try and enjoy it? They all put so much into this, and besides, I think this is more for them than it is for us. Be nice, just for tonight." Ymir opened her mouth to protest and Krista immediately stopped her. "I know that look. Don't argue. I'll give you a special surprise when we get home tonight if you obey."

And Ymir did.

XxX

A few hours, tons of alcohol, blasting music and seven strippers later Ymir sat moodily alone in a corner, elbow on the table, head leaning on her palm and leg crossed over the other. Krista had been gone for the better part of half an hour and Ymir had grown tired of acting like she cared.

Sure, she admitted, her friends were doing this all with good intentions, but she had specifically told them she did not want to partake in this idiocy. She had never been a party person, at all, and mainly disliked human contact with anyone that wasn't Krista.

Where was Krista, anyway?"

"Hey there sexy, you look lonely." A woman spoke up and stepped out of the darkness into the strobe lights. Ymir had to squint to see her properly, and even then all she could make out was that she was wearing something black and something that barely covered her body. She didn't recognize this person.

"No thanks." Ymir said, grateful that the overly loud music had dimmed a bit in volume and she could hear herself think again.

"Aw, don't be like that baby." The woman moved like lightning and sat down on Ymir's lap before the brunette had time to react. Ymir shot her hands out and gripped the woman's hips, preparing to shove her off, and then she paused.

The woman had removed her top, and a pair of shapely breasts were dangling right in front of Ymir's face. Raising an eyebrow, Ymir prepared to continue her earlier move, only to be stopped by the woman. "Go on sugar, I'll let you touch them. You won't be disappointed."

"No."

"Oh come on, please?"

Ymir rolled her eyes and complied, remembering that Krista had asked her to be polite to people and to act like she was having fun. She lifted her hands and cupped the woman's breasts. They really were pretty though the dark room didn't provide enough for Ymir to see any details, but she could feel the soft, smooth and warm skin and the hard nipples poking into her palms. Almost immediately after experimentally lifting and then squeezing them, Ymir dropped her hands. They weren't Krista's and Ymir had no interest at all, and they were too big, in the brunette's opinion.

Ymir sat up quickly, surprising the woman who she had come to realize was the stripper that had come dressed as a naughty police woman in black leather clothes, and set her back down on the ground. The stripper pouted and looked up into Ymir's face, but the brunette was already turning away.

She was short, but not as short as Krista. Damnit, where was Krista?"

"Thanks for letting me touch your tits, but I'm not interested!" Ymir called over her shoulder. The music had picked up again.

"Why don't you stay and touch more than that?" The stripper grabbed Ymir's wrist, stopping her.

Ymir sighed, bit the inside of her cheek and turned to speak to the hopeful woman. "I need to find my _wife_, so please, let me go." Ymir said, liking the way the word 'wife' felt on her tongue and how possessive it sounded.

The stripper sighed and shrugged. She spotted Mikasa sitting alone at one of the other tables and sauntered over to her. Ymir wasn't even interested in staying to see how that would end.

She slipped past the crowd and found the sliding doors at the back of the building. Hoping that she still had some luck left and that no one was making out, drunk or having sex out on the patio, Ymir pulled the door open and then hurriedly slammed it behind her. The music disappeared, barely audible through the thick glass and the brick walls, and Ymir groaned in appreciation.

"And that sexy noise?" A familiar, soft voice spoke up in amusement and Ymir looked up in surprise. A delighted smirk crossed her face and she went to join Krista at the edge of the patio at the railing.

"I was just having a little hearing orgasm there. Goddamnit the music is loud. I couldn't even hear myself think."

Krista gave her a little hip bump, or attempted to, since she only managed to bump Ymir's upper thigh with her hip. "Did you try to have fun?"

"I did. I decided to stop trying when I was forced to grope one of the strippers."

Krista blinked. "Forced?"

"She wouldn't leave me alone."

"But forced?"

Ymir sighed. "They were nice tits, but not yours. Yours are beautiful, and wonderful even though they're not big. Yours are softer too. Like, my two globes of happiness." She looked over to see Krista's reaction and laughed when she saw how red her love's face was. "Should I have rather said breasts?"

"Would have helped, yeah." Krista agreed and covered her burning cheeks with her hands. It wasn't just the crude word, but her blush was also caused by a sudden racing of her heart when Ymir said such sweet thing about her body.

"So did you really touch a stripper's boobs?" Krista asked, looking up at Ymir's face to see if perhaps the brunette was just teasing her, but Ymir shrugged and leaned her crossed arms on the railing, coming down to Krista's height.

"Yeah, held them for a second and then dropped them. Did nothing for me at all. If it isn't my Krista then I don't want it."

Krista bit her lip to prevent herself from grinning too widely. It didn't matter at all that Ymir touched someone else, because she knew Ymir had no interest and was probably just trying to please Krista in her own weird understanding of what Krista had meant with 'have fun and be polite'.

"You are so charming."

Ymir looked over and then paused. Her face turned thoughtful and then she straightened, bent down and covered Krista's breasts with her hands. She gave a soft squeeze, surprising Krista enough to gasp, and then nodded to herself and sighed. "Definitely. These are the real things." She stopped her groping and then engulfed Krista in her arms. "I love your tits."

"Ymir…"

"I mean boobs."

Krista laughed and buried her face against Ymir's neck. "And I love all of you, Ymir."

"Yeah, I love all of you too. Just sometimes love your ti… boobs more." Ymir breathed a small chuckled against Krista's ear and then suddenly twirled her around. "Let's dance." She put Krista back on the ground and started a slow rhythm, not really moving around and simply swaying them to the sides.

"To what music? I'm pretty sure 'I'm Sexy and I Know It' isn't the most romantic song to dance to." Krista said.

"Shut up. I'm dancing to the music in my head. Just lean against me and follow my lead."

Krista smiled and did as she was told. She blocked the echo of the loud music coming from inside the building out and leaned her head against Ymir's shoulder. Ymir found her hand and intertwined their fingers, and then she started gently swaying them together and dancing slowly to the beat only she could hear.

"I can't wait to be your wife." Krista commented softly, fully entranced by how much she loved Ymir and the wonderful atmosphere her love had created with this quirky idea.

"Mm, can't wait to rip your dress off after the wedding."

"Ymir…" Krista warned.

Ymir chuckled. She dipped down and wrapped an arm around Krista's lower back and lifted, bringing her blonde lover to eye level. "I'm just joking. I can't wait to marry you, Krista. Just thinking about it makes me all mushy inside."

"I can't believe you willingly confessed that."

"Shut up, pipsqueak, I'm trying to make you see how charming I am."

"Trying? Ymir, you succeeded the first day we met." Krista wrapped her arms around Ymir's neck and leaned in to give her a peck. "I love you, you big goof ball."

"Who are you calling big?" Ymir asked and kissed her back.

"And who were you calling a pipsqueak earlier?" Krista pressed her lips to Ymir's, preventing her from properly replying as her words just came out as incoherent mumbles against the blonde's lips. Krista giggled and then moaned softly when Ymir started a long, slow kiss, not leaving any teeth or tongue out.

"Damnit Krista, you make me love you so much." Ymir panted, forehead pressed to Krista's, after the long and passionate kiss ended.

"How about we sneak out and continue this at home, alone, in the quiet, on our bed?" Krista suggested. "Naked…." She added as an afterthought.

Ymir looked up into her bright blue eyes and sighed. "You've just made me love you more." She curled an arm behind Krista's knees and then picked her up bridal style. She managed to scale a wall and made it safely to the parking lot with Krista giggling softly in her arms.

Hopefully their friends wouldn't be too mad that they left their own party before it had really even started.


	8. The wedding

**Chapter 8: The wedding (one week later)**

Ymir shifted nervously and wiped her sweaty hands on her white suit pants. She shifted again and cast her eyes down the white carpet that had been laid out on the grass and watched the sliding door with anticipation. She hardly noticed the crowd of people sitting on white chairs all neatly placed to either side of the carpet.

"Stop fidgeting Ymir, she should be down soon." Sasha said, sporting a smart, white suit much like Ymir's.

"I know, damnit. I'm just excited, is all." Ymir forced herself to look away from the door and faced the front, hands clenched into fists at her sides.

It was their wedding day and due to Krista's insistence that they follow some useless tradition and spend the night apart. Ymir hadn't even seen Krista's dress. How was she supposed to know she would like it if she hadn't been there to choose it with Krista?

The crowd of their friends and family suddenly quieted down and Ymir's eyes shot back to the sliding door. Krista appeared, wearing a simple but beautiful white dress. She had her arm hooked around her father's and he looked close to tears as she opened the door and the two started walking down the aisle.

Ymir sucked in a deep breath and her heart skipped a beat. Krista looked absolutely gorgeous. Her hair shone like gold and her eyes sparkled. The smile on her face when she noticed Ymir standing at the altar, nervous and charming in a white suit, made her radiate with love and happiness.

Everyone faded out and all Ymir could see was her beautiful bride. She was in a wonderful trance, eyes glued to Krista's radiant face. When the blonde finally reached her Ymir had enough sense to accept her hand and had to force herself not to embrace Krista there and just hold her. Krista could see the state her lover was in and smiled gently at her.

"Ymir?" She asked softly.

"You look beautiful." Ymir breathed out, cheeks slightly pink. Krista beamed, knowing that Ymir hardly complimented so seriously and that this time she truly meant it. The blonde gave her hand a squeeze and turned them to the front to the woman that was doing the service for them.

Words passed over Ymir's head. All she could focus on was the angel standing next to her. She felt retarded for how entranced she was, but she was filled with so much love that she couldn't care. Krista was going to hers in every way now, and she never knew how much she had wanted this until now. She realized it was a lot.

"Ymir, your vows?"

Ymir finally heard the voice and looked away from Krista's face to focus her thoughts. She cleared her throat and then turned back to her blonde lover, now facing her. She took Krista's hands and smiled.

"Krista, from the moment I met you I thought you were an angel, and you are. Of all the people that know me, none can handle my difficult personality like you. You make me feel loved and wanted, and like maybe I'm not a curse to the world sometimes. I thank you for coming into my life and making me the happiest bastard to have ever lived." She didn't care that there were people listening, or that she was being completely open and honest. Krista deserved this.

"Ymir…" Krista teared up and Ymir rolled her eyes.

"I didn't say that to make you cry, dummy."

"I know." Krista sniffled, holding her tears back so that she could deliver her vows. Krista's mother was already sobbing on her husband's shoulder. Sasha was inconspicuously wiping her tears away and a few people were clearing their throats. No one had seen Ymir this emotional and no one had actually known the true extent of Ymir's love and care for the little blonde. It was heart-warming to finally see it.

"Ymir, on the first day we met you called me a pipsqueak right from the start. I've always been a little sensitive about my height, but names like that coming from you feel like an endearment rather than an insult, even though I know you mean it as an insult. You are the most stubborn, difficult, sarcastic and jerk of a person I have ever met, but I absolutely love you that way. Dealing with you and that personality is such an adventure, and when you have those rare tender and sweet moments, they mean all the more. I love you so much and I can't wait to spend forever and a day with you." Krista now had tear pouring down her face. Ymir cleared her throat and faced the front, scared she would start crying too.

After the vows were said they did the usual 'I do's', exchange rings and then it was time to kiss the bride. Ymir was the part Ymir had been looking forward to most. She pulled Krista to her chest and gave her the most passionate kiss the little blonde had ever received.

They eventually unglued from each other and turned to their friends and family, clasped hands raised.

The crowd cheered, and the couple smiled.


	9. The honeymoon

**Chapter 9: The honeymoon (two weeks later)**

Ymir lounged lazily on a hammock, her long body stretched out in the soft material. On her chest Krista was fast asleep, breaths coming out soft and even.

They were out on the patio of a beach house they had rented on a tropical island they were visiting for their honeymoon. Ymir hadn't much cared for going away but she had wanted to make it special for Krista, so she used the money she had been saving just for this and managed to get them away for two weeks to have the most amazing and romantic vacation either of them had ever had.

Ymir had been so sweet after the wedding. She made it her mission to tend to Krista's needs and to be a little less difficult. Krista really appreciated it.

The only thing Ymir hadn't help back on was her desire for Krista. Since the wedding night they had made love countless times. Not even two weeks would satisfy Ymir enough to calm her down, she was insatiable.

Ymir caressed Krista's smooth back and sighed in content. It was their second last day and they would leave for home the next day, but she was still in a good mood.

Krista moaned lightly and snuggled deeper into Ymir's equally naked and toned body. "Hey." The blonde said softly, now awake.

"I didn't mean to wake my wife up." Ymir commented with a grin.

"Will you ever call me anything other than your wife?" Krista asked playfully and lifted her head to look into Ymir's face.

The brunette shook her head. "Nope. Calling you my wife is sexy, so I'll keep doing it."

Krista giggled and then grew quiet. "We have to leave tomorrow."

"Yeah we do."

"I'm going to miss being so carefree with you."

"We can still be carefree at home."

Krista giggled. "You can, with your ability to just walk around naked whenever you want. Even when we have guests!"

"Sometimes you don't warn me. Not my fault. Besides, I see the way you just stare so I know you enjoy it." Ymir wiggled her eyebrows, making her new wife giggle again.

"Oh you."

"Oh me."

"Come here, naughty wife of mine." Krista said and pulled Ymir's face down to her own. She captured her lips for a long while. As the kiss deepened and Ymir initiated tongue play, the brunette's hands started to wonder and Krista had to stop her or they would end up jostling the hammock too much and falling off again.

"Remember what happened last time. Let's go inside, it's getting late anyway." Krista got up and pulled Ymir up with her.

Luckily the house they had rented was private and secluded so there was no worry of anyone wandering by and catching sight of their nakedness.

"Let's order something to eat." Ymir suggested and blushed slightly when Krista giggled at her growling stomach. She looked down at her abdomen with a glare. "Shut up, stomach. I'll feed you soon."

While her partner warned her stomach to keep quiet Krista picked the phone up and ordered a meal for both of them. Once the order was placed Krista returned the phone to the table and went to hug Ymir from behind. She gave her a few kisses on the shoulder and Ymir shuddered.

"Krista." Ymir turned around in the embrace and lifted Krista into her arms. "You know it drives me crazy when you do that." She said huskily.

Krista grinned sexily and leaned in close until their lips were brushing. "I enjoy making you all hot and heavy, oh sexy wife of mine."

Ymir growled deeply in her chair and bolted for the bed. She dropped Krista on top of it and then quickly crawled on top of her, pinning the blonde to the bed with her body. "God fucking damnit Krista you are so hot." Ymir growled in her ear and pressed into her, making Krista emit a low moan.

"And completely hot for you right now."

Ymir raised an eyebrow but smirked. She loved it when Krista got all naughty like this, it was really sexy.

Ymir started a long kiss and when she couldn't hold back anymore she started a trail of hot kissed down the blonde's body. In no time at all Ymir was situated between her legs and blew a hot breath over her wetness, making Krista squirm.

Ymir reached out with her tongue, and then cursed and pulled back when the doorbell rang. It was their food.

Krista groaned in frustration but got off of the bed and stumbled around to put a robe on. "I'll get it!" She called out, already making her way to the door. Krista opened it and a young teenage boy greeted her.

"Hi. Here's your order." He eyed Krista up and down, eyebrows raised as he saw that she was wearing a robe and probably nothing else. She was shorter than him and looked even younger, so he leaned against the doorframe and pulled the boxes of food away just as Krista reached out to take them. "Say, what's a babe like you doing alone? How about some company?" He attempted a sexy smile but it only made Krista cringe.

"I'm not here alone, now can I please get the food?" She reached out with the money but the boy didn't take it and simply gripped her wrist.

"Aw, babe, don't play hard to get. I'm sure who ever you're with won't mind some company. Is it a friend? Is she as hot as you?"

"If you don't mind, I would like my wife to come back to bed." Ymir growled menacingly from where she had appeared behind Krista. She reached out and slapped the boy's hand away from Krista's wrist and wrapped her arms around her waist, chin resting on her head. "When the lady says fuck off, you fuck off." She glared daggers and the boy swallowed hard.

"Y-you two are married?" His hands started trembling.

"None of your damn business. Give us the damn food and piss off." Ymir growled back. She wrenched the boxes out of his hands, took the money from Krista and tossed it down the driveway. "Fetch, doggie." She smirked evilly and waited for him to go and fetch the money. The boy simply stared at her, eyes wide. "Did I fucking stutter?" Ymir made a move to walk around Krista but the blonde locked her arms around her waist and kept her in place. Ymir was still very much naked and Krista did not want this idiot to see her wife in all her naked glory.

"Please just pick the money up and leave." Krista asked quietly, not finding enough motivation to scold Ymir for being so cruel. Normally she would, but Krista was upset with the kid's audacity to try his moves on her and then persist even when she rejected him.

"Get down on all fours and pick the damn money up like the dog you are!" Ymir yelled, a vein popping out at her temple and throbbing. She had a look of absolute murder on her face and if Krista wasn't holding her she would have attacked the kid, naked and all.

The boy stumbled back and scurried to pick the money up from the ground and then he left, not sparing a glance behind him as he jumped into the company car he used and sped off.

Ymir pulled Krista in with her and slammed the door closed so hard the frame shook.

"Sweetheart, calm down." Krista took the boxes from Ymir's hands and placed them on the bedside table. She then gently pushed Ymir down onto the bed and sat on her lap. She leaned her forehead against Ymir's and soothingly ran her hand through her hair. "He wasn't going to hurt me, he was just being obnoxious and he probably thought I am a teenage girl like him." She moved to stroking Ymir's face and noted with relief that her lover's face had drained of the angry red and her body had relaxed.

"Little fucker is lucky you were there. I would have killed him with my bare hands." Ymir sighed and wrapped her arms around Krista. "Get this thing off." She pulled at the fabric of the robe with a frown.

Krista quickly sat up and shrugged out of the robe. Feeling each other's naked skin again made them both sigh in relief and bliss. It was like re-establishing a deep connection.

"I'm sorry for blowing up like that. Being good for so long can make me explode sometimes." Ymir said softly and sat back on the bed until her back touched the wall. Krista was still curled up against her chest, held tightly in her arms.

"We should keep you balanced then."

"How?"

"I'll just be smart with you like you hate so we can argue once in a while."

Ymir chuckled and rolled her eyes. "Nah, I'll be okay. Now that the excitement is over, I'm fucking hungry." The brunette reached out and grabbed their boxed meals. She handed one to Krista and opened hers. Together they ate in contented silence, feeding each other occasionally and kissing in between. When the food was done Ymir chucked the boxes on the floor and flipped Krista onto her back. "Now that dinner is done, it's time for desert." She stated kissing and biting Krista's neck, making the blonde groan.

"Ymir, how about we continue this in the shower?" Krista suggested hopefully. She was really in the mood for shower sex at that moment.

Ymir stopped kissing her throat and gave Krista a long look. "I love you." She kissed her hard on the lips and picked her up from the bed. Krista just smiled and let Ymir carry her to the bathroom.

The brunette put her down and started a shower and then turned to the door. "Get in so long, I'll be back in a moment." Ymir said and disappeared out of the door.

When she returned she found Krista in the shower, water sliding down her body. Steam had already filled the room and the glass door of the shower was coated with steam, blurring Krista's figure.

Krista acted like she hadn't heard Ymir step in the shower behind her and continued to run her hands through her wet hair and tilt her head up to the stream of hot water.

Something hard poked against the middle of Krista's back and the blonde moaned softly when she realized what it was.

"I'm in the mood for some rough sex." Ymir husked into her ear, pressing her body to Krista's and letting the flesh coloured strap on dick slide between her legs and graze her most sensitive area.

"Does threatening people do that to you?" Krista asked breathlessly.

Ymir didn't respond and pressed Krista up against the shower wall. She dipped down and started a heated kiss, all the while rubbing the head of the rubber penis against Krista's sensitive clit to get her as aroused as possible, if Krista getting any more turned on was possible.

"Ymiiiir… just make love to me, please." Krista whined, hating the teasing and just wanting Ymir to take her.

"What does my little wife want?" Ymir asked, rubbing the object harder.

"You." Krista squirmed.

"Nu-uh, what do you want me to do? Say it or I won't do anything." Ymir stopped her teasing and leaned in to start kissing along Krista's shoulder and neck.

"No… Ymir… it's embarrassing…"

"Do you want this or not?" Ymir growled, loving how flustered Krista was. "All you need to say are a few words and I'll take you to heaven." She ended in a whisper, hot air brushing against Krista's ear and gave her earlobe a gentle bite.

Krista shuddered and swallowed. She needed release so bad. It was embarrassing but… "Fine!" Krista closed her eyes and tilted her head back, hiding her face from Ymir's amused and lustful brown eyes. "P-please shove your cock in me and make me scream your name!" Krista wanted to whimper with the force of her embarrassment and was sure her face was bright red, but she couldn't deny how absolutely wet that statement made her.

Ymir loved to make her say that whenever they used the strap on.

"As you wish." Ymir growled and pushed the wet rubber penis into Krista's entrance, loving the resistance she felt which indicated how tight Krista was. She kept sliding in, achingly slow, gracing every inch of Krista's inner walls, until there was no more space to fill and she was in to the hilt.

Krista released a sexy moan and wrapped her legs around Ymir's waist, allowing the brunette the best position to thrust into her unhindered.

With her left hand Ymir gripped Krista's thigh and with the other she leaned against the wall. In no time she was grunting softly as she pulled out and thrust back in, slamming Krista back into the wall with each powerful thrust. She kept this up for a long while until Krista arched into her and came with a shattering breath.

Ymir pulled out, hugging Krista to her body for a moment and then started on washing her lover's trembling body – since Krista wasn't able to do it in her current state – and then her own. After they were both clean and the strap on was removed, Ymir carried Krista into the room, dried her off and pulled her into bed with her. The blonde just closed her eyes and rested comfortably against her wife's chest. It was so warm and comforting, and Ymir's husky scent relaxed her shaken nerves and helped calm her once racing heart.

"Go to sleep, Krista. I'll be here when you wake." Ymir placed a soft kiss against Krista's brow and smiled softly when the blonde sighed in content and snuggled against her.

It was their last night, but it was just as perfect as the others.


	10. The start of a family

**Chapter 10: The start of a family (eleven months later)**

Early afternoon sun filtered in through the lounge curtains, bathing the room in gentle light and slight warmth. Ymir glanced over at the stream of light and then back to her hand where Krista's lay against hers, small and pale. They were lying together on the couch for the usual nap, since Ymir was off for the day and Krista no longer attended classes.

The blonde rested comfortably on top of Ymir's long body, head resting on her chest. She was fast asleep, breathing softly and evenly.

Ymir continued to study Krista's tiny hand and how their sizes were so different. How could an adult be so small? Her hand was tiny. It was so adorable. Most of the time Ymir had to ward flocks of teenage boys away from Krista, because they always mistook her for a helpless teenage girl. Ymir always loved to flash the rings on their fingers to show the world who Krista really belonged to.

Smiling, Ymir coaxed Krista's hand into a fist with her thumb and brought it up to her lips to press a gentle kiss against Krista's ring finger. Suddenly the blonde's hand uncurled and her fingers flexed out, brushing softly against Ymir's lips.

"Hey." Ymir said softly to her now awake lover.

"Ymir." Krista said in response, sleepy and eyes still closed. "You didn't go to sleep?"

"Nah, I've just been laying here watching you."

"You didn't touch me inappropriately while I slept, did you?" Krista asked teasingly and giggled to herself.

"Did you want me to?" Ymir fired back, an amused smile on her face. She leaned down and placed a firm kiss on Krista's head. "But I didn't. I was actually just comparing the sizes of our hands." She put her hand over Krista's again and lifted them, showing Krista the size difference. "You are so small compared to me."

"You are also just really big. You tower over most men."

"I know." Ymir smiled. "I just like how, despite how opposite we are, we fit together perfectly." While speaking she curled her hand around Krista's and watched as her hand engulfed it. A thought occurred to her and she frowned.

"What's wrong?" Krista asked, feeling the sudden aura change and the stiffening of Ymir's body.

Ymir looked away at the ceiling and swallowed. Studying Krista's hand hadn't been all she was doing while her wife slept. She had been thinking, a lot. But it wasn't just recently that she had started thinking about a particular subject.

She had first started thinking about it after they returned from their honeymoon. Ever since then she could not stop thinking about it, and before long she realized she wanted it. She had wanted to talk to Krista about it for a long while but she was embarrassed to do so. Ymir wasn't very good with feelings like these.

"Ymir? Your heart is racing." Krista sat up and watched Ymir's face with worry. Her ear had been pressed to her chest so she had heard Ymir's increase in heart rate the moment her heart had started beating faster. "What's wrong?"

"Krista..." Ymir swallowed the thickness from her throat and cleared it. Why was this so damn hard? "There's something I've been meaning to talk to you about..." She held her breath in an attempt to build her courage, and then opened her mouth to continue explaining, but no words came out.

"About? Ymir, whatever it is you can talk to me. I'm always here for you."

Ymir finally turned her eyes to Krista and felt her heart calm but swell with love. Her little blonde wife was looking at her with such concern and love that it calmed her nerves. She reached out and gently caressed Krista's cheek. "I want another one of you." Ymir finally admitted.

Krista's brows furrowed and she titled her head to the side in confusion. "I don't think human cloning is legal."

Ymir rolled her eyes and chuckled. She covered her face with her hand so that she wouldn't lose her nerve again and slipped a hand underneath Krista's shirt to caress the warm skin of her lower back.

"No, dummy." Ymir uncovered her face and stared straight into Krista's eyes. "I mean I want a small version of you." She suddenly switched their positions, putting Krista onto her back, and then she lifted Krista's shirt and rested her cheek against her stomach. "A... combination of you and me." She gently caressed Krista's stomach.

"Ymir... Do... Do you mean having a baby?" Ymir released a shaky breath and nodded. "Like, you want me to get pregnant?"

"Yes." Ymir blushed slightly and gave Krista's lower abdomen a kiss. She moved back up to the blonde's face and looked uncertainly into her eyes. "I want us to start a family. I've been thinking about this since our honeymoon."

"That long? Why didn't you mention this sooner?"

"My fear, I guess. And it feels so embarrassing."

"Ymir, there's nothing wrong with wanting to have a baby with your wife."

"So, will you consider it?"

Krista giggled and wrapped her arms around Ymir's neck. "Ymir, I've been thinking about having your baby since highschool. I would always wonder what our baby would look like. She would probably look a lot like you, and be tall with those freckles I love. Oh! And she'll probably have your attitude."

Ymir raised an eyebrow. "You'd really want a mini me running around? Even I couldn't handle that."

"I would love our child to take after you. You are so strikingly dark and gorgeous, so she would be blessed with looks."

"You are gorgeous too."

"Yes, but I look weak and helpless. With your tallness and attitude she would at least appear fierce and strong, even if she ends up being soft like me."

"What makes you think we'll have a girl?"

"I've never been able to imagine us having a boy. Whenever I thought of our baby I would see this little girl in my arms, looking at me with familiar brown eyes and having those same freckles across her cheeks."

Ymir blushed from the intense beating her heart was doing. The more Krista spoke the more she wanted to have a kid. "So...?"

"So yes, Ymir. We will have a baby."

"Really?" Ymir's face took on an excited look and she leaned down to give Krista a hard kiss. "Let's go right now and make a baby!" Ymir attempted to jump off of the couch but Krista laughed and pulled her back down.

"You want to do it now? I'll have to make an appointment at the doctor first."

Ymir scowled. "Can we go soon then?"

"You really want a baby, don't you?"

"Almost as much as I had wanted you before I got you."

Krista reached behind her and took the phone from the side table. "I'll make an appointment for tomorrow. We'll need to get checked to make sure we're both healthy, and then we can talk to the doctor about how we can go about having a baby."

Ymir tried not to smile too brightly and played it down. She huffed and slumped down against Krista. "Fine, whatever." She said in irritation, but her smile never wavered.

XxX

The next day Ymir and Krista went to their local doctor for check-ups and a week later returned to hear the results. They waited impatiently – Ymir being the impatient one – in the waiting room.

"Calm down, Ymir." Krista said softly, sternly, and put a hand against her lover's thigh to stop her leg's insistent moving.

"Sorry." Ymir apologised and sighed. "Goddamnit this is taking forever!"

"It's only been half an hour."

"I wish I could just make the damn kid myself." The brunette grumbled. She had been miserable as of late due to their research on how to have a baby. She and Krista had divulged in their dreams and fantasies of having a kid together, but then reality knocked on their door and sprayed them with cold water. Ymir hated that she couldn't just make love to Krista and get her pregnant. They would have to spend a lot of money and use medical assistance to have a child. In a sense it hurt too, not to be able to actually conceive their baby in the act of love.

She wanted to. She wanted to make that baby while loving Krista, but nature dictated that she couldn't. She damn fucking couldn't and it upset her beyond words.

"Ymir." Krista could sense her wife's upset and found her hand to intertwine their fingers. "It doesn't matter how we make our baby, it will still be made with love." She tried in vain to comfort her lover, but it never worked.

"I just... This is a responsibility I should have. I should make our baby, not some old guy in a lab coat. It fucking pisses me off."

"I know." Krista sighed and leaned against Ymir and rested her head on her shoulder. "But you'll still play a big part in all of this."

"Ymir and Krista Renz." The secretary announced, glancing over the waiting room.

"Oh, it's our turn." Krista stood, still holding Ymir's hand.

"Damn fucking time." Ymir grumbled and followed her lover and another secretary towards the doctor's office. They were ushered inside and the secretary left, closing the door behind them.

"Krista, Ymir." A female doctor named Dr Lebough stood up from her desk to give Krista a hug – she had known the blonde since she was little – and then shook Ymir's hands. She gestured for the couple to sit and then took a seat at her own chair behind the desk. "The tests came back and you are both healthy and well. I see no problems in starting a family. Have you decided on which method you will use?"

Krista glanced quickly at her sulking partner and then sighed and turned back to the doctor. "Actually we wanted to ask you about which method would be best."

"I see." The doctor leaned back in her chair and clasped her fingers together. "Have you considered adoption?"

"We have and it's off the table. I will not have some abandoned kid who will one day be angry at us for giving it a damn home just because Krista didn't squeeze it out." Ymir commented and slouched further in her chair. She had her arms crossed and her leg resting atop the other. She wouldn't meet Krista's or the doctor's eyes and stared off to the side.

"Okay, I understand." The doctor pursed her lips but continued. "The other option is IVF, which I'm sure you've read up on." Krista nodded. "You can choose which method of treatment you want. The first option is ovarian hyperstimulation, which uses drugs to stimulate your body into producing mature eggs. The second option is Natural and mild IVF where the eggs are naturally selected after your normal menstrual cycle. Mild IVF includes using a small amount of drugs for a short period of time during your menstrual cycle. All of this will be costly, which ever you choose."

"Of course it'll be damn expensive. Damn greedy fucking humans. Why make us pay through our asses just to have a kid when normal couples can just fuck and pop them out like it's some game?" Ymir grumbled, face set in a firm scowl.

The doctor resisted a sigh and decided to continue. "Now, you will obviously need sperm to fertilize your eggs, I assume you'll be the egg donor, Krista?" When Krista nodded the doctor smiled. "You can choose from available anonymous donors or you can find a male close to you to donate his sperm."

Ymir grit her teeth hard. She knew she was being an asshole, but she had a right to feel so upset about the whole thing. Yes, she wanted to have a baby with Krista, but _she_ wanted to have a baby with her. She absolutely hated the idea of some man's sperm being inside of her lover, and being the other half of her child. How was she supposed to be connected to it? It would never look like her. Ymir had no brothers to ask for help so that her kid could at least have her blood, so it was hopeless.

The brunette refrained from sharing these thoughts, though, since she knew that refusing to use sperm would basically cancel out their plans of having a baby. Ymir honestly felt like crying. She had never felt so hurt in her life.

The doctor sat quietly, watching Ymir's face contort in anger and misery. She felt her heart twinge in sympathy and sighed to catch both of their attention, since Krista had taken to nervously looking at Ymir in hopes that she would lighten up and involve herself more.

"Look," she made eye contact with both of them. "I can see that none of the presented options are good enough for you, Ymir." The brunette was about to say something snarky but the doctor held her hand up to stop her and continued speaking. "So I will give you a new option that I think will make you both very happy. We tested your DNA for compatibility, just in case, and biologically you are both extremely compatible. So I feel safe in giving you this option."

Ymir's anger dimmed slightly and she straightened up in her chair, finally feeling interested in this visit. "Go on."

"As you both know, science has progressed a great deal in the years. Recently a new method of fertilization for same-sex couples has been developed, and luckily for you it has just been approved this year. It is still a new practice and a total of 23 couples have undergone the procedure so far. Of all of those couples, every one succeeded in conceiving a child."

"Get to the good parts, doc, I don't care for the history lesson."

The doctor grinned at Ymir's impatience and knew in her gut that she was making the best decision for the two. "It's called DNA Morphing. What we do is take a DNA sample from the prospective father figure of the couple, the one that won't carry the child, and create sperm cells using that DNA."

Ymir swallowed hard, eyes wide. "Is this for real? Does it really work?"

The doctor nodded. "So far this method only works for women, but they are working on a version where they can use DNA and convert it to egg cells. Anyway, what we can do, Ymir, is take your DNA and make your sperm for you. It will be as if you actually produced it yourself, but it will come from a lab. The reason why this isn't readily suggested is because it is still mighty expensive and there is another issue with the conservatives and the religious. We are planning on making an announcement soon, though. So consider this a behind the scenes offer."

Krista watched Ymir's face closely. The anger had drained away and was replaced by hope. Ymir turned to Krista and looked into her eyes, pleading. How could she think Krista would even have to consider it? This is exactly what she had wanted too. She loved Ymir as she was and did not want her to change at all, but it hurt her just as much that they couldn't conceive the easy way.

"What are the methods of conception once the sperm is made?" Krista asked. She smiled softly when Ymir took her hand and gave it a slight squeeze.

"Well, we could perform the normal IVF procedures after extracting your eggs and fertilizing them with Ymir's sperm." Not even the mention of the dreaded method could decrease Ymir's excitement. Her eyes still shone and her smile was unadulterated. She didn't even care to keep her emotions in check, she was just so damn happy that she could actually father the kid. If only she could properly father it. As if hearing her thoughts, the doctor continued to say the words that would forever brighten the couple's situation and add to their future. "But, the most popular method is normal intercourse. You may order a certain amount of the sperm and you can take it home, where you can then impregnate Krista whichever way you want. Some couples used a syringe either during sex or not, but most use a strap on that they fill with the sperm and then use to imitate intercourse."

"We'll do it." Ymir said, firm and determined. "We'll order my sperm."

"But I haven't explained the financial side to it."

"I don't care how expensive it is, sign us up because I am going to do this and get my wife pregnant on my terms."

Krista smiled brightly, loving the possessive and primal glint in Ymir's eyes.

The doctor could only chuckle and reach for the phone. "Let me get a hold of my contacts."

XxX

A month later Ymir returned home from work, exhausted and grumpy. She threw her bag onto the dining room table, dropped her keys beside it and let her jacket fall to the floor.

"Krista?" Ymir called out, wanting to see her lover's beautiful face to hopefully get rid of some of her irritation. Work hadn't been that pleasant and Ymir was glad to be home.

Her wife wasn't answering so Ymir started to worry. She briskly walked into the kitchen, the lounge, the other rooms and then finally checked their bedroom for her lover. She found Krista sitting on the bed, back facing her, looking down silently at something in her hands. "Krista?"

"It's here." Krista said softly, disbelieving.

"What's here?" Ymir walked to Krista and peered over her shoulder, only to choke on her spit and grab the box from Krista's hands. "IT'S HERE!" She exclaimed loudly, laughing joyously after.

The brunette carefully put the box down on the bed and then pulled Krista into her arms so that she could twirl her around and bask in the moment. "It finally came in this morning and Dr Lebough called me the second it was available. I could only fetch it an hour ago, and I've been sitting here the entire time, just staring at it." Krista said, arms tightening around Ymir's neck.

"We can finally make a baby." Ymir placed Krista back down on her feet but didn't let her go and leaned down to start a long, slow kiss. "I want you so badly right now." Ymir husked softly against Krista's lips and started pulling at her clothes. "I want to make a baby now."

"Now?!"

"Now." Ymir pulled her own shirt of and hurriedly shoved her shoes and pants off, underwear following soon after. "Krista, get naked!" She commanded to her wife who was just standing there, watching.

Krista swallowed, body already tingling and hot. She quickly got out of her clothes and then she felt Ymir press her body against her back and strong arms wrapped around her waist.

"We've been waiting an agonizing month for this and I'm not waiting another second. Tonight we will make a baby." She turned Krista around and initiated another toe curling kiss, making Krista whimper and grip her arms tightly. Ymir backed them up until they reached the bed, quickly put the box carefully on the bedside table and then resumed her long and passionate kiss.

She kept a thigh between Krista's legs, rocking against her gently to stimulate her and get her as wet as possible. When enough heavy petting had passed Ymir slid off of Krista and retrieved their strap on from the drawer.

"Show time." She strapped it on in seconds and hurried over to the box. With hands shaking due to the excitement and adrenalin, Ymir managed to open the box and retrieved one of the five syringes containing the liquid of life she would need to bring her baby into existence.

Due to scientific modification the sperm cells remained in a 'sleep state' and 'woke up' when reaching optimal body temperature. They would stay alive as long as they were kept in a cool area, like a fridge or freezer, depending on how long they would need to be stored.

Ymir quickly filled the strap on with her sperm after making sure the device was still working as it should, and then she climbed back onto the bed and re-joined her waiting lover. Krista had watched her with an amused smile and loving eyes. She could see that Ymir was excited, and probably more turned on than she should have been.

The brunette leaned down to kiss Krista again, using her hand to rub the head of the strap on penis along Krista's core to get it lubricated enough. Krista moaned hotly and arched into Ymir's body, anticipation and want making her stomach tighten and her wetness increase.

"Are you ready?" Ymir asked breathlessly.

"I'm ready. Let's make a baby."

Ymir attacked Krista's lips with all of the love and emotion she felt swelled up in her chest at the same moment she slid the now warm cock into Krista's body. The blonde moaned deeply, loving how Ymir stretched her out.

Ymir moaned too, loving how sexy Krista sounded when she made noises like that. She started moving, sliding slowing into Krista and then pulling out just as slow. She kept the pace slow at first, watching Krista's pleasure clouded face with rapt attention, building the wonderful tension between them until Krista dug her nails painfully into Ymir's shoulders and begged for her to go faster, harder.

The taller of the two complied and picked the pace up, sliding out and slamming in faster until she was moving as fast as she could, thrusting so deep that Krista's body jerked each time and their skin slapped loudly together.

"Oh god, Ymir!"

"Come for me, Krista." Ymir said, eyes never leaving Krista's face for a second.

Krista's body left the bed as she arched upwards into Ymir and slammed her had back against the pillow, coming so powerfully that her inner walls tightened enough to completely stop Ymir's thrusting. The tightening triggered the device and it automatically ejected the liquid into Krista, spraying directly into her womb and warming the blonde's insides.

Ymir couldn't hold herself back anymore and buried her face against Krista's neck as she came too, just from watching the ecstasy on her lover's face.

Eventually they relaxed back onto the bed and Ymir flipped onto her back with Krista still impaled and now resting comfortably on her chest.

"Don't pull it out yet." Krista said softly, hand curling around Ymir's.

"Okay."

"I'm sure it worked." Krista confessed, heart fluttering slightly. Her body relaxed further as her eyes grew heavy and she just managed to draw up enough energy to lift her head and give Ymir a languid, lazy kiss.

"We'll see in a few weeks if we did just make a baby, but I really do hope it worked." Ymir wanted to be absolutely positive, but her logical mind demanded that she at least try to be realistic. Secretly, though, she hoped with all her heart that this was it, and that Krista was finally pregnant.

XxX

Three weeks later Ymir and Krista sat together on the couch, Krista curled up against Ymir's chest, tear streaks stained across her face.

They had finally taken a pregnancy test after waiting impatiently for three weeks, but it showed negative. Ymir hadn't believed it and went out to buy ten more, only for each one to show the same result. Krista wasn't pregnant, and their first try hadn't worked.

Ymir sighed softly and brushed a strand of damp hair away from Krista's forehead. She hated seeing her love so upset, but she was probably at fault too for making the blonde hope as much as she had. Ymir's heart was also saddened that their first try failed, but she was determined. They had four syringes left; all of them nestled safely in their freezer. Four was probably too much, because Ymir was determined to make her wife pregnant the next time they tried.

But she didn't. It failed again with Krista taking the same amount of tests and all of them showing negative. Krista had tried to put on a brave front and kept a smile on her face, but Ymir could see right through it. She just didn't have the heart to point that out.

When Ymir and Krista tried again, more determined than ever to make a baby, they were left devastated when once again there was no pregnancy.

What was she doing wrong? Ymir had followed every instruction to the letter. She had called the doctor but she had assured Ymir that she was doing everything right and to keep trying. So they did, but the fourth time didn't take either.

Krista dropped the negative pregnancy test and just collapsed onto her knees, too numb and heartbroken to even cry.

"Krista," Ymir watched helplessly, feeling like this was her fault. Like there was something wrong with her sperm or she just wasn't doing something right. "I'm sorry."

"No! Don't you dare apologise again!" Krista shouted and slammed her fist against the floor. Ymir sucked in a deep breath, never having seen Krista like this before. "All you have done these past six months is apologise. It is not your fault Ymir, so please stop saying you are sorry. I d-don't know w-why it's not working… b-b-but…" Her anger drained and sadness took over. Krista bit back a sob but couldn't keep the tears from leaking out and pouring down her face.

There was nothing Ymir could do other than scoop Krista into her arms and carry her over to the bed. "But I am sorry. Maybe if we went with the other options instead of this one, you would be pregnant already." Ymir was standing beside Krista who was curled up on the bed.

"No! I know you never wanted to make our baby like that. Just please, stop it. I can't handle it when you do this!"

"And I can't handle failing my wife like this!" Ymir shouted, slight tears falling over her cheeks. "I can't even fucking get my wife pregnant, despite the odds of actually being able to do it. How am I supposed to feel? How am I not supposed to be sorry?"

She turned around and rushed into the kitchen, ignoring Krista's calling from behind. She grabbed the last syringe from the freezer and rushed back into the room.

"I'll do it, this time I'll do it right and we'll make a baby!" Her hands shook as she wrenched the device they used out of the drawer.

"Ymir, stop this!" Krista jumped off of the bed and rushed to Ymir's side. "Doing this won't change it. Give it some time and we can try again, please."

"No! I'll get you pregnant this time Krista, I will!" She fumbled around the straps and searched for where she could insert the syringe, only to feel the glass containing their last hope slip out of her fingers.

Neither of them were fast enough and all they could do was watch as the syringe fell to the floor and shattered.

"Fuck!" Ymir fell down onto her knees, hands pressed to the floor on either side of the mess, head bowed. "Fucking shit!" She couldn't believe it. Their last hope and she had destroyed it. How had every gone so bad?

"Y-Ymir, it's okay…" Krista put a hand on Ymir's shoulder in an attempt to calm her but the brunette wrenched her shoulder away and stood up.

"It's not okay! I just ruined our last chance!"

"No you didn't, we can order another batch, and we can try again in a month."

"And end up on the streets because of debt? We're already up to our ears in fucking debt, Krista. You know as well as I do that these five chances were all we had, and they fucking failed." Ymir kicked their cupboard with a yell of frustration. "I'm sorry." She uttered and crumbled against the cupboard door, hand covering her face. "I'm so sorry Krista, I'm sorry."

The blonde sucked her tears down and pulled Ymir into her arms, for once being the one to comfort her distressed lover. It was normally Ymir that let her cry against her chest and clutch her shirt, but now the brunette was the one doing it, and for once she didn't care about hiding her feelings and just cried all of her anger and sorrow out.

Eventually she cried herself into exhaustion and Krista managed to pull her over to the bed. They curled up against each other, eyes red and puffy from crying, hearts broken and sore.

Ymir pressed a hand to Krista's flat stomach, heart cracking a bit more at the knowledge that nothing was growing inside there, and buried her face against Krista's back to hide the last little bit she had left to cry.

XxX

Krista shivered slightly and pulled a blanket over her small body. She was curled up on one end of the couch, watching TV. She felt exhausted and winced every so often when she felt a cramp. There were dark circles under her eyes and she looked pale, but it wasn't due to lack of sleep. She had been sleeping perfectly ever since she and Ymir had talked their feelings out, much to the brunette's hesitation, and came to terms with their plans to start a family coming to an end.

It hurt, and every so often one of them would grow quiet and solemn, but they agreed to accept it and support each other until they were able to fully let it go.

It was exactly two weeks after that terrible afternoon when Ymir dropped their last syringe. Neither had really recovered yet, but they cheered each other up. Ymir had taken the first week off to tend to Krista and spend as much time with her, but eventually she had to return, much to her irritation, since she had bills to pay and a wife to support.

Krista yawned loudly and struggled to keep her eyes open. She had started feeling terrible lately and figured that she had caught a cold due to her irregular emotions and the times when she would sometimes sneak out of bed at night to cry softly to herself in the bathroom. All of that was now coming around to bite her in the rear and she felt terrible.

Krista yawned again, blinked, and then she fell asleep.

An hour later Ymir returned home from work and found Krista fast asleep on the couch. She didn't want to wake her, but the blonde seemed to sense her presence and woke almost instinctively. Immediately Krista reached out and Ymir took her hand, sitting down next to her on the couch. Krista used Ymir's lap as a pillow and smiled weakly, grateful to have Ymir there with her. She would never have been able to handle this on her own and had been terrified in the beginning that Ymir would shut her out and ignore the issue, like she tended to do sometimes. But she hadn't and all Ymir had been was a wonderful wife and an amazing comfort.

"How are you feeling?"

"Fine." Krista lied. She felt guilty for falling ill while they were both going through such a difficult time. A cramp hit her and Krista cringed.

Ymir noticed and sighed. "Krista, if you aren't feeling well don't hide it from me. We agreed to be honest with each other." She ran her hand through Krista's hair and frowned when the blonde curled up again and whimpered. "Krista?"

Krista suddenly gasped and then jumped up from the couch. Ymir was only a second behind her as the blonde bolted for the bathroom and made it just in time to drop to the floor and bend her head over the toilet, convulsing as her stomach muscles worked and she emptied her stomach of the sparse food that had been in there.

"Jesus Krista, how long have you been sick?" Ymir asked in worry and held the blonde's hair out of her face.

"No," Krista mumbled, weakly pushing against Ymir's chest. "Don't stay here for this, it's gross." She cringed and leaned over the toilet bowl again, heaving terribly.

"There is no way in hell I will leave my wife when she's feeling terrible. I will be beside you through anything Krista."

The heaving finally stopped and Krista felt it safe enough to stand. She wobbled slightly and Ymir had to catch her or she would have fallen over. She guided Krista to the sink and helped her lean down to wash her mouth out with water. When her mouth was clean Krista whimpered and leaned heavily against Ymir's chest. The brunette slid to the floor, back against the wall, and let Krista curl up on her lap.

"I didn't want to worry you with me being sick on top of everything else." Krista confessed after a long moment of silence. "I'm sorry Ymir."

"How long have you felt like this?"

"For the past week." Krista idly played with the edge of Ymir's t-shirt sleeve and sniffled. "I'm sorry."

"It's okay." Ymir just wrapped her arms around Krista's shivering body and held her close. Krista pressed against her and Ymir paused, looking down. "Krista?" She questioned in a strange voice.

Krista managed to lean back enough to look into her face. "What's wrong?"

"When did your breasts get so big?" Ymir asked, noticing for the first time that Krista's breasts were much bigger than normal, almost bursting out of her top.

"What?"

Ymir's stomach dropped in shock as a thought occurred to her. "When is the last time you had your period?"

"Why?"

"When?" Ymir pressed, swallowing hard. If she was wrong…

"Uh, last month. I stopped on the 18th."

Ymir's heart jerked. "Krista, it's the 19th today. I don't remember you complaining and being moody this month."

Krista was confused for a moment, her exhaustion and ache from throwing up clouding her mind. Something clicked and Krista gasped. "Ymir… I… I've been feeling so tired all week even though I sleep perfectly through the night with you…" She swallowed hard and shakily stood up. She went over to the kitchen cabinet and retrieved one of the few pregnancy tests they still had and hadn't been able to throw away yet.

She didn't say anything and looked down at Ymir who was breathing hard and staring at her with wide, fearful eyes.

"I-I'll go to the kitchen and get some medicine for you." Ymir said and quickly left the room. She was hopeful but she could not handle seeing the hope in Krista's eyes. She knew how devastated Krista would be in a moment if this freak occurrence wasn't what they were hoping it was.

Ymir stumbled into the kitchen, heart jerking so hard that it hurt, and blindly retrieved a glass from the cupboard and then filled it with water, downed it and filled it again. She stayed in the kitchen for a while, worried when Krista hadn't come out of the bathroom yet after 20 minutes had already passed.

When the blonde eventually emerged her eyes were red, swollen and puffy. She had tear stains across her cheeks and the tip of her nose was painted in a light red. "Ymir…" Krista said, voice cracking slightly. She wobbled over to Ymir who was biting her lip and trying not to crumble again.

The blonde buried her face against Ymir's neck and gave her a hard, long hug. Ymir felt her heart ache for her little lover. To get her hopes up only to have them crushed again…

"Ymir…" Krista spoke up, voice clearer this time as she had managed to control some of her emotions.

"Krista, I know we both got our hopes up again but I'm sure we'll get over it. We can get a puppy, or a kitten. I'll even consider both if you want."

Krista trembled slightly and took a shattering breath. She pulled out of Ymir's arms and looked up into her eyes. "No, Ymir, it worked." She held the pregnancy test up close to Ymir's face and watched as the brunette read the result and her eyes widened.

"This… how… it can't be…"

Krista pulled her other hand out and presented another 6 sticks, all showing positive just like the one Ymir was now gripping tightly in her hand.

"I'm pregnant." Krista smiled so wide that she was scared her jaw would snap.

Ymir couldn't respond for a long moment. Adrenalin surged through her veins as her heart raced and her body shook. She kept staring at the 7 different pregnancy tests, at each positive reading.

All of a sudden Ymir dropped the sticks and tackled Krista into a tight though surprisingly gentle hug, and twirled her around the kitchen.

"I FUCKING CAN'T BELIEVE IT!" Ymir yelled, face bright with relief, joy and glistening with tears. She stopped spinning them and placed Krista back onto her feet. She gently cupped the blonde's cheeks in her palms and looked intensely into her eyes. "Did I do it?"

"You did it."

"My wife is pregnant?"

"I am."

"My wife is pregnant." Ymir grinned broadly, unable to contain not even a smidge of the exhilaration she felt. "Fuck yes!" She did a fist pump and started dancing around the kitchen, much to Krista's amusement.

She didn't care that she looked ridiculous dancing and laughing in their kitchen, or that Krista was giggling at her. She didn't care to hide any of her feelings, because somehow one of their tries had worked, and she had made their baby.

Ymir suddenly dropped to her knees in front of Krista and pushed her shirt up. "Hey there." She spoke to Krista's stomach, ignoring the blonde's amused giggles. "I'm your daddy, and I'm glad you're finally here."


	11. The pregnancy

**Chapter 11: The pregnancy (three months later)**

Three wonderful months passed for the couple after finally managing to conceive their baby. After visiting their doctor, Lebough, it was confirmed that Krista had already been 5 weeks pregnant. It seemed that their fourth and last try had actually worked and the doctor theorized that the test they had taken – they had only managed to get through one because trying another one only to see the same negative result was too painful – had either been faulty or they had tried too early.

Either way, the couple didn't care. Their efforts were not in vain and Krista was just glowing with happiness.

Currently they were lying in bed, naked and cuddling. It was late at night and both were asleep, but Ymir kept her hand pressed gently to Krista's slightly bulged stomach. She had started showing, and Ymir couldn't stop touching her stomach whenever she had the chance. Ymir was curled up against Krista's back, protectively shielding her body with her own and keeping her hand protectively to her stomach, even in her sleep.

A gentle breeze blew in through the open window, irritating Ymir enough to wake her up from her deep sleep. She grumbled softly and climbed out of bed to close the window, cursing herself for leaving it open. Once it was closed she dashed back to the bed and slipped in under the blanket and re-moulded herself to Krista's body, placing her hand back against her stomach.

"Where did you wander off to?" Krista mumbled, woken up by the loss of her lover's warmth and presence.

"Oh, shit, sorry. I left the window open and just quickly closed it." Ymir nuzzled against the back of Krista's neck. "Sorry to wake you, go back to sleep."

Krista grunted in reply and snuggled deeper against her lover's soft and firm body. They both relaxed and felt sleep nearing, but then Ymir's eyes shot open when she felt a slight flutter against her hand.

"Did you feel that?" Ymir asked.

"I did." Krista replied, almost completely awake now. They both froze and waited and eventually it came again. It was a soft pressure, but it was definitely a kick. "She's moving." Krista said in wonder. She turned onto her back so that she could see Ymir's face and felt her heart melt when she saw the wonder in her lover's eyes.

"I felt it, I felt her move." Ymir pushed the blanket to the side and shifted down until she was eye level with Krista's slightly swelled belly. "Come on sweetheart, move again." She encouraged, both hands lying gently against Krista.

The blonde smiled and watched her lover with affection. She loved her so much at that moment that she could barely contain it, and felt her heart swell and chest warm with the intense feeling.

"She moved again!" Ymir exclaimed and laughed. "This is amazing." She glanced up at Krista with a bright smile and shining eyes.

"Come back up here you, I need to kiss you." Krista said with a grin and waited until Ymir had crawled back up her body and then she captured her lips and gave her a passionately love filled kiss. "I love you so much."

Ymir kissed her back with equal intensity and kept a hand on her tummy, not wanting to miss another kick. She pulled back and grinned cockily. "Do you think she'll really take after me?"

"With this kicking so early already? Of course." Krista giggled and kissed the tip of Ymir's nose. "I know she'll be just as gorgeous as you, Ymir. You've been a fantastic father already."

Ymir smiled proudly. "Damn right I am! This kid will have the best parents any kid has ever had. I'll love her and protect her just like I do you." Ymir leaned in and kissed Krista's lips. "Especially from the idiots of this world."

Krista giggled. "Like you did when we came back from the doctor after confirming the pregnancy and finding out how far along I was?"

Ymir nodded. "I still don't get why you were so surprised."

"Ymir, you cleared a path for me on the walkway by threatening everyone with that terrifying glare and colourful words, and exclaimed, and I quote, 'no one take one fucking step near my pregnant wife, or I will rip your throat out. Do you all hear me?! I fucking worked hard to make this baby! I won't let anyone touch either of them!' and then you picked me up and carried me back to the car. I had to hide my face because it was so red."

Ymir scoffed and rolled her eyes. "I had a right to do that, considering the emotional rollercoaster we went through. If someone were to run into you and make you fall, we could lose the baby or something."

Krista sighed but smiled affectionately and snuggled against Ymir. "I'm sure it can't happen that easily, but I think your protectiveness is adorable and incredibly sexy."

"Oh really?" Ymir grinned and kissed her again. "Let's go back to sleep though, I'm still exhausted. You've sure gotten a lot more demanding of my sexy body and god-like skills."

Krista kissed Ymir's shoulder and blushed. "Blame your baby. These hormones are driving me crazy. I just want to stay naked forever and make love to you ever second of every day."

"You'd break me."

"I never imagined I would ever break you during sex, I always thought it would be the other way around. At least you aren't afraid of touching me. I was scared you would be concerned about hurting the baby."

"Hell no! This is a baby Ymir, and her bloodline means she's a touch motherfucker and she can handle us having some rough sex. Besides, sex is really healthy for the baby too. I made sure to do tons of research way before we started trying for the kid."

Krista bumped Ymir's head with her own. "You giant softie. I can only imagine the mess you'll be when our baby is all grown up and she wants to stay out with friends instead of being locked up in her room like I'm sure you'll want."

Ymir grumbled, unimpressed just at the thought. "Don't get me all upset already, she isn't even born yet."

Krista kissed Ymir softly. "I'm sorry. Now let's go to sleep."

"Okay." They returned to their earlier position of Ymir curled around Krista's back, hand over her stomach with Krista's over hers, and settled down to return to sleep.

Ymir smiled, heart fluttering, and wondered what adventures the little person growing inside of Krista would create, and what type of person she would grow up to be. She felt another kick, stronger this time, and smiled wider.

This was definitely a Ymir, and she would definitely be a joy once she entered the world.


	12. Welcome to the world

**Chapter 12: Welcome to the world (four months later)**

"Incoming soon-to-be parent!" Sasha yelled to alert the people in the hallway as Ymir ran as fast as she could, using the advantage of her long legs to jump over a cart that was in the way, not even caring that she startled a nurse into falling over. Other people were shoved into the wall as Ymir barrelled down the hallway until she eventually reached her destination and threw the door open.

"Ymir!" Krista exclaimed in surprise at her lover standing by the door, panting and breathing hard.

"I… came… as… soon as…" Ymir walked in and shut the door behind her, trying to catch her breath so that she could finish her sentence, and went over to her very pregnant Krista sitting on the hospital bed. "Sasha called." Ymir finally ended, breathing now under control.

Krista smiled and reached out for Ymir's hand, only to end up squeezing it tightly as she felt a strong contraction and grunted in pain.

"So your water broke?" Ymir asked, panicking at Krista being in pain and not knowing what to do to help.

The pain subsided and Krista straightened, taking deep breaths. "Yeah, 2 hours ago. When did Sasha call you?"

"She only called me 10 minutes ago. Why the fuck didn't she call me earlier?" Ymir was about to leave the room to find and throttle Sasha but Krista pulled her back.

"Don't be stupid now. Just lay here and let me curl up on your chest. I'm still in early labour so this is going to take a while. This is painful and I would like to sleep through as much of it as I can." Krista said commandingly. Ymir decided against replying sarcastically and just climbed up on the bed for Krista to curl on her chest. The blonde managed to doze off and together they slept until a few hours passed and Krista's contractions came more frequently and more painfully. The pain woke her and she therefore woke Ymir.

The brunette held Krista for the last stretch of the first stage of labour and when it was finally time for pushing Dr Lebough hurried over and prepared the couple. She made sure Krista was dilated enough and then she commanded for her to push.

An agonizing hour later, with Ymir grimacing in pain because Krista was crushing her hands and Krista hardly making any noise as she focused on safely delivering their baby, a shrill cry broke through the tense air and Krista finally slumped back against Ymir in exhaustion.

Due to Krista's demand Ymir had been allowed to hold Krista from behind as she pushed, because really, Krista was damn terrifying when she wanted to be.

Ymir watched their tiny daughter with wonder and awe and cut the umbilical cord. She was given to Krista shortly after for the parents to meet their newly born child before a nurse would arrive to take her away to get her cleaned and dressed.

Krista had tears pouring down her face the second their little bundle was placed into her arms. She looked up at Ymir's face and saw the same pride and love in her eyes as she gazed down at their baby.

"She's beautiful." Ymir breathed, uncaring of her swollen face and bloody skin. She was beautiful anyway, because she was the product of Ymir and Krista's love, and she was perfect.

"I'm sorry but we have to take her now to get her cleaned." A nurse spoke up and reached for the baby. Ymir wanted to attack her but knew she couldn't and simply glared at her as she gently picked their baby up and carried her out of the room.

XxX

Sometime later, when their baby had been returned, cleaned and clothed in the light blue baby grower they had picked up, Krista was fast asleep while Ymir sat in the chair next to her, alternating between giving Krista's hand in hers a squeeze and smiling at her face to gently caressing their baby's smooth cheek and marvelling down at her. Ymir had moved her chair in between the hospital bed and the little bed the baby was sleeping soundly in.

She couldn't stop looking at her, at the little creature she had worked so hard to make. It made Ymir swell up with pride and feel accomplished. She had done it, goddamnit. She fathered a kid despite being born the wrong gender to do so.

Ymir smirked, unable to hide how arrogant she felt. Her daughter was damn perfect already.

"Ymir?" Krista fluttered her eyes open and searched the room for her lover, and noticed her seated directly beside her. "Ymir, why haven't you gone home to sleep?" Krista asked in alarm. The clock on the wall blinked a bright 1 in the morning.

"I refused to go. You know how scary I can get." Ymir answered with a little grin and rested her head against Krista's chest while looking up into her eyes. "How is my wonderful wife feeling?"

"Trying to avoid the subject?" Krista raised an eyebrow. "Ymir, what trouble did you cause?"

Ymir sighed and sat back up. She turned around and leaned over her daughter, reaching out to gently pick a tiny hand up with her long fingers. "They called the police and stuff but that doesn't matter. What matters now is giving this midget a name."

"Ymir, she is not a midget."

Ymir cranked her neck to give Krista an unimpressed look. "Krista, have you seen how tiny she is? She managed to pop out of that tiny body of yours so of course she's a midget." Ymir's eyes widened. "No, shit, wait. She's smaller than a midget."

Krista laughed softly and gave Ymir's cheek a playful flick. "My life is going to be one hell of a ride now that I have you and a mini you to take care of." The blonde commented. Ymir just stuck her tongue out at Krista and then tried to bite her fingers when she attempted to grab Ymir's tongue. "Anyway, what did you do to make them call the police, and why are you sitting here and not in a jail cell?"

"Jesus, Krista, can't I sit here and admire my hard work for a bit," she pointed at their daughter, "without an interrogation?" Krista just stared, her hard gaze warning enough that Ymir would live for the next few years without Krista's body heat. "Okay! Geez. Well, the nurse came in and started nagging at me to leave so I told her very politely to piss off. The squirt was awake and she finally opened her eyes. The damn nurse ruined the moment."

"Wait, she opened her eyes?" Krista glanced over at the baby with wide eyes.

"Oh, yeah! You were sleeping though, I didn't want to wake you. Anyway, so then the nurse came–" Krista leaned forward and gave Ymir a mighty head-butt. "Ouch, goddamnit! What was that for?!"

"That was for leaving me out of our daughter's first glance at her parents. Ymir, you ass. Why didn't you wake me! I swear, sometimes you have the intelligence of a wall."

Ymir glared at Krista for the insult, fully preparing to make a nasty comment back but paused when their baby squeaked for a second and when both of them glanced at her, she sneezed.

"Oh my god, Krista, she sneezed. Is it supposed to do that?" Ymir gently lifted the baby from the bed and cradled her against her chest. She was awake now, but relaxed against the slightly moving surface of her daddy's chest and kept her eyes closed. Both Ymir and Krista breathed a sigh of relief when she didn't start crying.

"Yes, Ymir, that's normal. Babies can sneeze, she isn't broken."

"Har har, you're killing me Krista, stop being so funny." Ymir responded dryly and climbed in beside Krista on the hospital bed. It wasn't quite big enough for the both of them so Krista had to half climb on top of Ymir too, and rested her head against the crook between her shoulder and neck.

"So, before I smacked sense into you, what did you do?" Krista asked softly, eyes glued to the tiny person resting on Ymir's chest that already strikingly resembled the brunette.

"The nurse left to get a doctor who tried to pull me out so I punched him." Ymir responded softly.

"Again, you weren't arrested because…?"

Ymir chuckled, making their baby shift slightly and flutter her eyes open.

"Oh, Ymir look, her eyes are open again!"

Ymir picked the baby up and placed her in a seated position on her stomach so that Krista could see her eyes properly. She pulled her legs up so that the baby could rest against them and not fall over, but kept a firm and gentle grip around her tiny waist. "Say hi to your mommy, squirt."

"I swear if you make her think her name is squirt I will disown you." Krista warned.

"Again with the jokes. You should win an award for being so funny."

Krista rolled her eyes but leaned up and kissed Ymir's cheek. "I still love you even though you can be stupid sometimes." The blonde finally turned her gaze to their baby and felt her heart swell with love when she looked into familiar, pretty blue eyes. "Aww, she has my eyes. They're so pretty."

"Damn right they are! She has sexy parents." Ymir commented with an amused grin. "So, to finally finish my earlier explanation before our beautiful daughter does something adorable again and steals our attention… I was about to be dragged off by the police but Dr Lebough just happened to stop by and stopped them. She promised the officer that she would get me to leave but she let me stay here, secretly."

"Please don't go around punching doctors, Ymir." Krista said but didn't scold her. She greatly enjoyed the fact that Ymir was so protective of them. It was so sweet.

"Deal, now let's give our baby a name."

They both turned to their dozing daughter who couldn't care about anything other than sleeping. Her head lulled forward so Ymir relented and gently placed the baby back against her chest, this time close to Krista so that the little one's mother could gently caress her soft face and the fuzzy tuft of brown hair on her head.

"Astrid." Krista said, not suggesting the name but giving it.

Ymir raised an eyebrow. "Why Astrid?"

"Because she's going to be as strong as you." Krista said with a smile.

Ymir looked over at their daughter, studied her naturally tanned skin and then she nodded in approval. "Astrid it is."

XxX

Due to the birth going better than expected and Krista only requiring a few stitches, the couple were allowed to take Astrid home with them on the third day.

Ymir had driven very carefully but she hadn't gone extremely slow like some people did. She had been eager to get their daughter home to the apartment she would grow up in.

All of their friends and family had already met the new addition during Krista's hospital stay, so it was just the new family.

The first week took some adjusting but they managed fairly quickly and by the second week of Astrid's life they were in a natural routine of sharing the duties that were needed to take care of their baby.

The crib had been set up in their bedroom, not in the room they had originally prepared for her, because Ymir was so attached she vehemently refused to leave their daughter alone in the room. Astrid slept in her parents' bed with them even though Ymir had argued to keep the crib in their room.

Currently the couple were sleeping soundly, naked and warm. It was Astrid's first night in her crib and without her parents curled around her and she was doing well.

At around 3 a.m. Astrid started crying and Ymir and Krista woke. The blonde sighed sleepily and made to get out of bed but Ymir quickly shot up and pushed her back down.

"No, I've got it! I've got it!" Ymir exclaimed sleepily and stumbled around to find her boxers and shirt from the floor. After sloppily pulling the clothes on she picked Astrid up from the crib and held her securely against her chest.

"Thanks." Krista eventually uttered and slumped in the bed, falling back to sleep immediately.

"Okay, Astrid, what's gotten you upset?" Ymir asked after a big yawn and rocked her gently about to calm her. Astrid quieted slightly but her crying continued. Ymir checked her diaper and sighed when she concluded that she just needed a change. She was also slightly sweaty because it was summer and the room was hot. The poor thing must have been really hot.

While making her way over to where they usually changed Astrid's diaper, Ymir decided that she might as well give her a bath and turned instead towards the door.

Krista continued to sleep soundly as Ymir padded into the bathroom, new nappy and a towel in hand with Astrid cradled in the other.

She dropped the items to the floor, Astrid not included, and turned the taps on of the bath to fill the tub. As the water started filling Ymir smiled gently down at Astrid blinking curiously up at her and remembered the first time she had given her a bath.

X

"_Lower her in gently." Krista advised, trying not to giggle at how nervous and careful Ymir was being. _

_It was their first day at home with Astrid and Krista had decided that Ymir would do the honour of bathing their child for the first time. The brunette had been surprised but quickly accepted the offer._

_They were in the bathroom, Ymir kneeling down beside the bath as she gently lowered Astrid into the warm water. Her hands were large enough to properly hold Astrid's head and lower body. Ymir looked so scared, like the water would suddenly swallow Astrid up or something. It was so cute Krista nearly started squealing. _

"_Am I doing it right?" Ymir asked._

_Krista giggled. "That's perfect. Now relax, keep your hand around her head to support it and use your other one to wash her. Do it gently." _

_Ymir nodded, focused entirely at doing this important task perfectly. She took the cloth Krista handed to her, already lathered with baby soap, and started running it ever so gently along Astrid's soft skin. She paid intense attention to every inch of her body until she was perfectly clean, and then used her hand to scoop water over her to wash the soap away. _

_Krista wrung the cloth out for her and Ymir took it with a soft 'thanks' and finished up by wiping the access water and soap from Astrid's body, and then she lifted her out of the tub and handed her over to Krista who wrapped a towel around her. _

"_That was perfect, Ymir." Krista stepped up on the tips of her toes and gave Ymir a kiss. "You were so adorable." She smiled with love and enjoyed the light blush clouding Ymir's freckles._

"_Of course I'd do it perfectly, this is my daughter." She looked away in embarrassment but couldn't help her small, triumphant smile._

X

Now back in the present, Ymir chuckled to herself and proceeded to confidently wash the sweat from Astrid's body. She needed no assistance this time and softly spoke to her daughter as she ran the cloth over her body.

"You know, Astrid, most people look at me and immediately think I can't be gentle." She said. "But I'll always be extra gentle with you."

Astrid started giggling when Ymir ran the cloth over her tummy, making Ymir pause and do it again. Astrid giggled again, and Ymir melted.

"When I heard your mommy laugh for the first time, I thought it was the most beautiful sound I had ever heard." Ymir said. "But I was wrong, squirt. Your giggle tops it all." She washed the soap away, gently towel dried her skin and then put a diaper back onto Astrid who took to kicking her legs and looking at Ymir's forehead.

"You really do look like me." Ymir told the baby and picked her up. The child really did look a lot like Ymir. She had Krista's eyes and her chin, but everything else had come from Ymir. The happy parent could just imagine how her daughter would grow up and couldn't help but smirk. She knew she was going to be gorgeous, weather she continued to look like Ymir or ended up growing up with more of Krista's features.

Ymir carried Astrid to the kitchen with her, warmed a bottle of Krista's milk for her and then went into the lounge to sit down at the couch and feed her.

After the milk had been consumed, Astrid released a soft yawn and then fell asleep in Ymir's arms. Ymir watched her with a proud smile and couldn't help but gently caress a finger down her smooth back.

She never knew it was possible to love someone other than Krista this much, but apparently it was, and she did, and it felt amazing.

When morning properly came around, Krista walked sleepily into the lounge and stopped short at the entrance of the room. She sucked in a deep breath and felt her heart swell.

Ymir was fast asleep on the couch, Astrid curled up on her chest. There was never a risk of the baby falling because Ymir had her arm wrapped protectively around Astrid's little body and had her hand gently holding Astrid's, that was incredibly tiny compared to Ymir's.

* * *

**Important Note: **Astrid is a Norse name, and 'Ymir' is too, which is why I chose it. It is a girl's name, and means 'divine strength'. How fitting? The 'divine' can refer to Krista while 'strength' refers to Ymir. Also, this name kept popping up in my head and kept nagging at me, so I decided to relent and use it.


	13. Growing up

**Chapter 13: Growing up (sixteen years later)**

Following her successful birth, Astrid continued to grow at an accelerated rate. She was definitely as intelligent as her parents, and as sassy as Ymir, if the look she got in her blue eyes when she was unhappy was any indication.

At 7 months Astrid said her first word that happened to be 'da'. Ymir had been gloating for a week that their daughter learned 'dad' first, but Krista argued that it wasn't necessarily the word 'dad' and was most likely just a sound Astrid had learnt. A week later Astrid evolved 'da' into 'dada' and used the word whenever Ymir was with her.

Krista had no choice but to accept that Astrid had learnt to identify Ymir first, but she really didn't mind. She was happy when a month later Astrid learnt to call her 'ma'.

When Astrid hit 1 year and 8 months she took her first steps. It had taken Ymir and Krista delightfully by surprise. Astrid had been sitting by her multitude of toys in the centre of the lounge while Ymir and Krista watched a movie, cuddling, but always watching Astrid through their peripheral vision to make sure she didn't crawl off somewhere.

Krista had noticed it first and when she had elbowed Ymir into noticing Astrid was standing up. She looked towards her parents and took a few steps, and then fell down. Ymir had to resist the urge to rush to her aid, but they had to teach her that not every fall required immediate attention. Astrid glanced up at her parents, as if waiting to see their reaction for if she should cry or not, and then she got back on all fours and crawled over to them.

Krista smiled and picked her up, placing their daughter between her legs as she leaned back against Ymir, sitting between her legs.

After that Astrid would walk a few steps until she could stand without wobbling and walk without falling. When she perfected the art to a degree, she started finding the joy of hiding away from her parents, making them panic and search through the entire house to find her while she ran away like a ninja. In one instance she had made it into the bathroom and found her way inside of the washing basket and couldn't get out, requiring her to call out for 'mommy' and 'daddy' to rescue her.

Krista hadn't been impressed, though she found it adorable, and scolded Astrid. Ymir instead found it hilarious and laughed so hard she ended up falling over and just laughing on the floor. Astrid found her daddy laughing on the floor just as funny and started giggling too. Krista placed her down with a sigh and watched as Astrid crawled on top of Ymir and laughed with her. She shook her head and eventually joined the two, unable to resist the infectious laughter anymore.

As Astrid hit her toddler years Krista decided to teach her at home for preschool instead of sending her to one. Ymir had been more than happy to agree. Krista was happy being a housewife and a busy mother, and while Ymir was away at work – that had become very successful, and Ymir became the owner of the business which allowed them to pay off their debt and live comfortably, and for Ymir to hire people so that she could work less and spend more time with her family – Krista taught Astrid who learned and absorbed knowledge like a little sponge.

From her very early years Astrid had grown into a wonderful set of freckles sprinkled out over her cheeks and nose, just like Ymir, and even a few on her shoulders, again just like Ymir. Her hair remained brown just like Ymir's and her skin stayed naturally tan.

At 6 years old Astrid lost her first tooth. Ymir told her about the tooth fairy, and then explained how it was a bunch of rubbish. Astrid hadn't been very impressed, and ended up quite crushed since her friends from next door had told her the exciting story of finally getting a visit from the tooth fairy. This led Ymir to dress up as a fairy to make it up to Astrid, who found her daddy dressed as a fairy more amusing than anything and ended up laughing all over the place.

Ymir had sputtered in embarrassment and scowled but Astrid's laugher softened her up and she eventually laughed too. Imagine Krista's amused shock when she walked in to find her newly appointed fairy wife giggling it away with their daughter.

They spent every holiday together, either with family and friends or just alone, the three of them. Each Christmas and every birthday. Despite Ymir not actually being a man, they celebrated father's day for her. When Astrid's friends had commented on her daddy not actually being her daddy, Astrid had been confused. She refused to consider Ymir as anything other than her father.

It came time for Astrid to start school. She had been incredibly excited about it, Krista had been relieved for the break she would get, but Ymir had been miserable. She hated the idea of her daughter being around other idiots and their idiot kids. When Astrid had asked her why she kept looking so upset, Ymir had sighed and pulled her onto her lap.

"See, Ash, I don't like the idea of you being around the idiots." She explained softly so that Krista wouldn't hear her and give her a head-butt.

"But not all people are idiots, daddy." Astrid replied. "You just get grumpy and think everyone is an idiot." She pointed out.

"Who is an idiot?" Krista asked as she came into the kitchen and overheard.

"No one!" Ymir replied quickly.

"Daddy says she doesn't like me going to school and being with idiots."

Krista paused and turned to the duo with a hand to her hip. "Are you teaching our daughter your nonsense again, Ymir?" She asked sternly.

Ymir rolled her eyes. "Oh please, what I teach Astrid is the truth."

Astrid realized that she accidentally got her dad in trouble and visibly shrank, scared that Ymir would be mad at her. Ymir noticed and chuckled, giving her a hug. "Don't look so sad, I can handle your squirt of a mother. Now come on, my other midget, let's get you to school." Ymir stood and let Astrid crawl onto her back.

Astrid laughed at Ymir calling her mother a squirt again but then she stopped when Krista gave her the 'if you don't stop laughing at me I'll punish you' look. Astrid swallowed.

They started for the door but Ymir had to stop when Astrid yelled for her to stop and quickly jumped off of her back. "Bye mommy! I love you!" She exclaimed and ran up to Krista to give her a goodbye hug. Krista smiled and knelt down to wrap her arms around her daughter's slender waist and then placed many kisses all over her face.

"Be safe, okay?" She said.

"I promise!" Astrid said with a grin so much like Ymir's and ran back to her other parent where she leaped into the air and tackled Ymir from behind.

"Are you a monkey now?" Ymir questioned with an eye roll.

"Haha! If I am a monkey then you are a daddy monkey." Astrid said with a giggle. Ymir just shook her head, hurried to kiss Krista goodbye and left to take Astrid to school.

Astrid's first day went perfectly and she managed to make a few friends. Her school years continued on with average grades – she struggled to focus most of the time because she found school boring, but she did do well – and fairly well behaviour. Astrid was a lot like Ymir in regards to her attitude, just like Krista had predicted she would be.

Though she had Krista's blue eyes that helped to soften her demeanour, she had found a way to perfect Ymir's intense glare and created her own icy glare. As she matured and hit puberty, she stopped being bubbly and became a bit more of a recluse. She was soft at heart, just like Krista, but she kept up a tough front which she had learnt from Ymir.

She was a happy child because she had the most amazing parents and her home life was perfect, but Astrid was becoming a teenager and soon she started being moody and started to shut people out.

Astrid wasn't as bold as Ymir and would hold her tongue for as long as possible, she would never just speak up and only did when someone pushed her enough. She was also easily hurt because of her soft heart and desire to help people for nothing in return.

She was definitely Ymir and Krista's child.

Personality aside, Astrid matured beautifully in the physical sense. At 16 years old Astrid was taller than her mother, much to her and Ymir's amusement. Her freckles had deepened and spread and her skin had darkened slightly over the years of sun exposure. Her voice took on a deeper tone after puberty really hit, making her sound like a younger version of Ymir. It reminded Krista of her early days with Ymir when they were just a couple of young teens in love. A lot of the time it made her zone out and think about those days. This often irritated Astrid because it always happened when she was talking to her mother about something and she would end up giving up because Krista would always drift off and miss every word she said.

It was a Friday afternoon and Astrid had just returned home from school. Krista heard the door fly open and hurried out of the kitchen to greet her tall daughter. "Astrid, you're home early." She remarked, noting the time was an hour earlier than Astrid's usual time.

"Yeah, uh…" Astrid rubbed the back of her neck and sighed. She avoided eye contact and tightly gripped the strap of her bag. "I kind of skipped the last period of school."

Krista frowned in concern. "What's wrong honey? You never skip class." Krista pulled the bag off of her shoulder and set it down beside the door. She took Astrid's hand and pulled her reluctant daughter into the lounge where she pushed her down onto the couch and stood looming over her. Krista preferred it this way, so that she didn't have to talk to her daughter while looking _up_ at her. It made her complex about her shortness worse.

Astrid sighed and looked up at her mother with teary eyes. "Well… uh… Lexi… she…" Astrid managed but stopped, unable to actually explain.

Alexia, known mostly as Lexi, was Astrid's best friend and practically her soul twin. The two hardly spent a day apart ever since meeting on their first day of primary school. They were the absolute best of friends, though Krista suspected there was more to it. Astrid and Lexi's relationship dynamic reminded her too much of how she and Ymir used to be.

"It's okay Astrid." Krista leaned down to give her a kiss on the forehead and then tugged on her shirt to get her to stand up. "You must be hungry. Come and sit in the kitchen with me until your father gets home, you should talk to her."

Astrid groaned. "Mom, if I can't even talk to you about it then how will I talk to dad about it? You know how she gets when I have issues. I'm so soft and she makes me want to cry sometimes."

Krista sighed and leaned up to pat her daughter on the head. "You'd think you'd be used to her blunt personality."

"I am, but it still stings when she doesn't hesitate to tell me I'm being stupid when all I want is a hug."

Krista went to work on making a sandwich while Astrid took a seat at the kitchen table. She glared off to the side and when Krista turned to look at her she smiled. The look in those eyes was so similar to Ymir's.

"I'm glad you aren't as harsh as your father. I can only handle one headache of a personality. It's like you got the best of us without the faults." Krista commented, finishing the sandwich.

Astrid snorted rather ungracefully, again looking like the younger version of Ymir when they were still in school. "I'm scary looking but I can cry for no reason at all. How is that scoring the best parts? I wish I had the steel nerves dad has."

Krista placed the plate down on the table in front of her brown haired daughter and sighed. "Astrid, your father struggles a lot with that. I'm unique in that I can completely understand her complex personality, and I'm able to counter it with my own. Where someone would normally avoid her because of a mean comment she made, I instead rose to the challenge and gave a comment back. Sometimes she just gets bored and calls me a shorty for the laughs."

Astrid chuckled, remembering the times her father had to sleep on the couch because of remarking on how the house was run by a dwarf, or how she would sometimes go around the house calling out for Krista, claiming she can't see her when she actually could. Whenever this happened Astrid would find a good spot where her mother wouldn't see her and laugh. If Krista saw her she would be put under her fury too.

Her mother was terrifying when she was furious, that is something Astrid and Ymir knew first hand.

Astrid didn't respond and focused on munching on the wonderful sandwich. She was so engrossed in the wonderful heaven on her taste buds that she didn't hear the front door swing open or the loud footsteps enter the kitchen.

"Ymir!" Krista exclaimed happily and wrapped Ymir in a tight hug. Ymir grumbled about being too hold to do things like that but put her arms around Krista's waist and lifted her up into her arms to give her a tight embrace. She put her down after a few seconds and then leaned down to give her blonde wife a passionate kiss to say hello.

"Mm, I missed you." Krista said dreamily and looked up into Ymir's muddy brown eyes. Ymir smirked and raised an eyebrow, eyes flicking over to her tall daughter slouched at the table watching them with a small smile.

Ymir frowned and leaned down to whisper in Krista's ear. "She's smiling but she looks miserable. Who pissed in her cornflakes now?" Ymir asked.

Krista shook her head, glad for Ymir's freakish intuition when it came to their daughter. "She won't tell me but it's got something to do with Lexi. Why don't you take her out for a walk by the lake and do that thing you two do?"

"What thing?"

"That weird bonding thing that only you and Astrid are capable of you. You understand each other best. Besides, sometimes she needs the truth the way you can deal it."

Ymir straightened and sighed. "Will I get rewarded?" She asked with a saucy grin.

Krista raised an eyebrow. "Helping your daughter with her girl problems is your reward." The blonde grinned faintly at Ymir's scowl and then pulled her down by the front of her shirt to kiss her silly, and then let her go. "But I'll consider something extra." She turned to the stove where she had been preparing dinner and acted as normal as she could.

Ymir blinked, gazing dazedly over at Krista until Astrid chuckled from the table. "What?" Ymir asked her in irritation.

"You have that dreamy look you get when you're contemplating ignoring me and ravishing mom right there on the floor."

Ymir flushed slightly and scoffed. "I would but I have you sitting there and apparently it wouldn't be appropriate." Ymir rolled her eyes but turned and started walking out of the kitchen. She grabbed Astrid on the way and ignored the shorted brunette's yell of protest. "Don't talk back to your father, Ash. I'll kick your ass."

Astrid sighed. "Yes dad, I know. You always remind me." She rolled her eyes and removed Ymir's hand from her shoulder. "I swear that I can walk on my own."

"You better be damn well sure you can." Ymir replied with a grin.

"Ha ha, I'm not amused."

Ymir was the only person Astrid was sarcastic with. When the banter was friendly they were able to insult, threaten and mock each other all through the day without any hurt feelings at all. But the moment it turned serious and personal, Astrid crumbled under Ymir's personality.

They left the house and climbed into the car, Astrid asking where they were going and Ymir ignoring her.

"Dad."

"Dad. Dad."

"… Dad! Hey, dad."

Astrid rolled her eyes and took a breath. "Dadadadadadadadad!"

"Okay! Gooddamnit Astrid, I hate it when you do that. You're just as annoying as your mother."

"I know you hate it, that's why I do it." Astrid replied and pressed her mouth to her palm to hide her smile. "And you're just as annoying to us, but we love you, and you love us."

"Yeah, yeah." Ymir responded but smiled as well. She didn't have to suffer another 'dad' mantra, thankfully, because she quickly pulled into the parking lot of the lake near to their house and climbed out of the car with Astrid following her lead.

"The lake?"

"Does it look like anything other than the lake?" Ymir asked sarcastically and started walking down the path off to the right that they usual took when going on walks together.

"Yes, dad, I know that. What I meant is why are we here?"

"To talk." Ymir said simply, sarcasm and mocking gone. "Your mom is worried and she pesters me when she's worried about you. What's wrong?"

Astrid looked away nervously. "Nothing is wrong."

They continued to trek down the path together in silence, Ymir not responding right away. They finally reached the bench they usually sat at and Ymir slumped down onto it, Astrid sitting down beside her.

"Bullshit, Astrid. Tell me what's wrong." Ymir finally said, eyes focused on the calm water of the lake. It was autumn now and the trees were almost bare, with their brown and yellow leaves scattered all over the ground.

"I don't… there isn't…"

"Come on Ash." Ymir said softly, using the nickname she used for Astrid when they were being affectionate or serious. "I won't be the angry dad. Just talk to me, I'm concerned too."

Astrid leaned forward with a sigh. "It's not that I'm scared of telling you because of what you might think… it's just…" Astrid blushed. "It's embarrassing and I know you and mom will tease me about it until I'm in tears."

Ymir surprised Astrid by pulling her in for a one armed hug. "Astrid, jokes and bullshit aside, I love you like I love your mother, and that is a fucking lot. I'm a selfish bastard sometimes but I'll always put you and your mother first." She leaned her head against Astrid's and felt her daughter relax slightly. "Of course I'll tease you, it's fun. Your reactions are better than your mother's, but I never mean them to genuinely hurt you. I'm just insensitive sometimes and I can have a terrible sense of humour."

"Dad?"

"Let me tell you something, to make you feel better in sharing things with me." She leaned back and Astrid decided to lie down along the bench, long legs hanging off of the edge, and used Ymir's lap as a pillow. Ymir didn't mind at all and just glanced up at the sky as she stretched her arm out along the backrest of the bench. "I worked my ass off to make you." Ymir confessed, smiling a little at the memory.

Astrid's eyebrows scrunched together in confusion. Her parents had always just told her that thanks to technology they had been able to have her, but they had never actually gone into detail about how she was conceived. It had been a long standing mystery to Astrid and she had been burning to know the details for years.

"We never told you because I wanted us to keep it a secret. It's kind of embarrassing. I didn't want you thinking I'm this giant softie."

"There's nothing wrong with being soft, dad. You're being soft now." The shorter brunette pointed out.

"Yeah well, anyway… 16 years ago the technology you know of today didn't exist. Having kids in those days if you didn't have the right body parts was an expensive and tiring thing to do."

"It was expensive to actually make a baby through science?"

Ymir nodded. "When I finally grew the balls to talk to your mother about having a kid we started searching for ways to do it. There was adoption, IVF and stuff, but all of those pissed me off." Ymir scowled. "I wasn't going to take in some other kid or have a kid that wasn't even related to me. I wanted to be half of you. I wanted to physically make you myself and have the knowledge that without my actions you would not have been conceived. I couldn't handle the fact that I couldn't biologically father you."

"But if you didn't have our technology 16 years ago, then how did I happen?" Astrid asked, looking curiously up at Ymir.

"We were introduced to the very beginning of DNA Morphing. It had literally only been going on for a year. When I heard that they could make my sperm just by using my DNA, I demanded for them to sign us up. So we did, and I didn't care about the cost because goddamnit I could actually make my baby now." Ymir ran a hand through her short, shaggy hair and glared off into the sky, remembering how upset she had been, but then she relaxed her face when she remembered how happy she had been after sending in that order.

"So you were willing to pay a fortune to have me?"

"You're damn right I was. We had to fucking wait one whole month for the sperm to finally arrive before we could start making a baby."

Astrid ran everything Ymir had said in her mind and wondered about something. "Dad, how did you use the sperm?"

"We used a strap on, with you in liquid form inside of it." Astrid rolled her eyes at the strange way to explain it but didn't comment. It was fascinating to hear how she had come into existence. "It was amazing to finally be able to actually, properly try for a baby. But you know, for the months that we tried, Krista just couldn't fall pregnant. I was determined, but I just couldn't knock her up. We had only ordered 5 syringes with my sperm, and to order more would put us out on the street. We had one last chance left, I was being a stupid ass because I was upset with myself for failing my wife and for my inability to make you so I tried to set the strap on up to try gain but dropped the last chance we had."

Astrid felt for her parents. She could only imagine the torment they must have suffered, and it selfishly pleased her to know that they had wanted to have her so badly that they sacrificed financial comfort just for the chance of having her. Too many children were the result of accidental conception, and most didn't feel as wanted as Astrid did when she had the knowledge that her parents had conceived her with the only aim of having her, to love and cuddle and watch grow up.

"Your mother didn't blame me, though, but I took it pretty tough. I actually cried. Your mother held me and I cried my eyes out." Ymir suddenly turned her eyes down to Astrid's and locked her into a hard stare. "Tell anyone that I cried and I'll chain you to your room."

Astrid swallowed. "Your secret is safe with me."

"Good kid. Now, where was I?... uh… Oh yeah! So, for a while after that I tried making it up to your mom by taking off from work and comforting her. And then the most amazing thing happened. Your mom started feeling ill, though the squirt tried to hide it from me, and we found out that she was pregnant. Our last try had worked, and you were there. You had already been there for 5 weeks before we figured it out."

"Why are you telling this to me, though? I'm sure you just didn't want to have to admit that you cried when you thought you wouldn't be able to have me, not that I'm complaining or anything…"

"What my point is, is that I worked hard in making you, so you need to stop worrying us and trust us a little more. We love you Astrid, even me, even the asshead. I get head-butted from your mother so many times I'm surprised I haven't gone into a coma yet."

"It's 'cause you have a hard head." Astrid suggested and poked Ymir's forehead. She frowned down at her daughter, unimpressed. Astrid just chuckled and dropped her arm.

"I know about you and Lexi, Astrid. We've known since the moment you ran to us excitedly about your new best and friend and gushed about how cute and small and blonde she is, just like your mother."

Astrid blushed bright red and looked away. "Damnit, I was scared that you had already guessed."

"How could I not have? You are like my second Krista, despite looking like a teenage me. I think I can hear your thoughts sometimes. That's how much I actually pay attention to you even though it seems like I don't."

"Why do my parents have to be so attentive?"

"Do you want me to kick your ass?"

"I mean, I'm so grateful for such wonderful parents!"

"That's better."

Astrid laughed, feeling a bit better after their familiar banter. "I might as well tell you then, since you already know." She took a deep breath, building her courage, and then started. "So, yeah, the moment I saw Lexi in the school yard, beating those older boys up even though she was half their size, I fell madly in love. It's taken me a while to realize that what I felt wasn't normal friendship. Especially when I would imagine me being with her like you are with mom."

"Like the time you walked in on us that one afternoon when I had your mother up on the kitchen table?" Ymir asked with a fake concerned expression, eyebrow raised.

Astrid sputtered and coughed after choking on her own spit for a moment. She had so sit up and Ymir rolled her eyes and gave her back a few heavy pats to help. "Dad!" She finally exclaimed, face fully red and heated.

"Oh please. You are my daughter Astrid but you are still a horny teen and I'm not shy to point that out."

Astrid scooted away from her frowning parent and curled into a ball to hide her face against her knees. "Daaaaaad!"

Ymir sighed. "Fine. What I meant to say is that I understand, you are a growing, hormonal pubescent teenaged girl with natural desires and natural feelings based on those desire." Ymir said in an overly polite, clipped tone.

"Okay no, go back to being blunt 'cause that was weird and I got shivers." Astrid shuddered for a bit, trying to get that weird moment out of her head.

"So damn hard to please, just like your mother."

"Anyway. Back to my young love story." Astrid said. "So Lexi and I have been friends for a long time and I realized a few years ago what my feelings really are, but I wasn't sure if she felt the same. I decided to just stick to the way we were and hope that she never found out. I mean, I couldn't risk losing her! She's the most precious person to me, other than you and mom, and it would hurt worse to lose her."

Ymir grimaced, feeling bad that her daughter had inherited that little fault from her. She sounded exactly like Ymir when she had been secretly in love with Krista but too terrified to tell her for fear of losing their friendship.

"But Lexi confessed to me a year ago."

Ymir's eyes widened. "A whole damn year ago and we only know about this now?" She exclaimed, upset. "Seriously Astrid, you need to tell us when important shit like this happens. Your mother, if she doesn't know already, is going to be really hurt that you hid it."

"I only hid it because Lexi didn't want me to tell you! She was scare for a while, especially that her mother would find out. She says her mother won't care that I'm a girl too and all that nonsense and that her mom is actually quite cool, but she refused to let me tell you without ever explaining why."

"So what changed?"

"Her mom kind of walked in on us having a moment in her room yesterday… she didn't say anything and just left the room. When we went down stairs to explain or something, she acted like nothing happened. Did I ever tell you how creepy her mom is sometimes? She has this really vacant, emotionless face when no one is looking. It's so creepy." Astrid shivered just thinking about it.

Ymir growled in disappointment and gave Astrid's forehead a flick. "Don't do naughty stuff at her house if she's terrified her mother will find out, idiot. See where your stupidity got you. Is her mother furious or something? If she tries anything with you I'll rip her throat out."

"Calm down dad, the story isn't over. Now I come to the reason I skipped school."

"Wait, you skipped school today?"

"Crap… uh… no?"

Ymir laughed. "I never thought the day would come when you would actually bunk school. I'm proud of you!"

"It was only last period though…"

"Meh, it gives me hope that you aren't as boring and uptight as your mother."

"I've never heard of a parent that gets disappointed in the fact that their kid doesn't bunk school."

"Well I'm not a normal parent. Okay, so your girl's mother walked in to see her daughter banging her best friend, and now you need to tell me why you skipped."

Astrid flushed. "Actually dad… uh… Lexi didn't… uh… see, it seems that with intimate stuff… I'm the aggressive one."

Ymir blinked. "So you are the one to start the first kiss and progress everything to eventually get to sex?"

"Well… yes…"

"And during, are you on top?"

"I…" Astrid covered her face again, loving that her parents were open to her about this kind of thing and that she could admit to doing this type of stuff without getting into trouble, but it was still embarrassing. "Yeah… and sometimes I push her up against the wall."

Ymir laughed. "At least I can feel at ease that my kid will have a wonderful sex life."

"Uh…"

"What? I worried for you. I'm not a damn prude. Sex is awesome and as you know I'm always trying to get your mother naked. It's not something to be ashamed off. You should do it as much as possible, safely, and then gloat about it. That's how I've lived my life." Ymir smirked like she always did.

"Okay, so, back to the subject. Lexi's mother approached her this morning and said that she would like to meet my parents to see if I come from a worthy background and if I deserve to be with her daughter. I kind of freaked out and just fled school. I needed mom's hug to make me feel better."

"So she wants to meet us?" Astrid nodded mutely. "Well I guess that's alright. I'd like to see who your girlfriend's parents are too, since I'll probably end up having to know them at some stage in the future."

"I have no way to know we'll ever make it that long."

Ymir scoffed. "Oh please. Your mother was the first girl I had ever fallen in love with or touched in any intimate way and I've been madly in love with her from the moment I met her. You definitely have Ymir blood, Astrid. You love like I do. You fall incredibly hard and stay by her side for an eternity. Even though you're emotionally weak like your mother, I can tell that you'll always protect what you love."

Astrid blushed. "Thanks dad."

"Don't thank me until we get home and explain all of this to your mom. She might find a reason to head-butt me and then I'll consider asking for a refund for that sperm I bought 16 years ago."

Astrid rolled her eyes. "Very funny dad, see how hard I'm laughing."

XxX

When they returned home it had already gotten quite dark outside. Krista had noticed that Astrid seemed a lot more relaxed and smiled, knowing that Ymir had managed to get Astrid to talk to her about whatever was making her so edgy earlier.

"So, did she talk?" Krista asked Ymir as soon as her tall partner walked out of the bathroom and to the cupboard to get clothes.

"Yep." Ymir replied simply and pulled some comfortable clothes on. She towel dried her hair and leaned back to kiss Krista on the lips. "Astrid has something to tell you, but she'll do it after dinner."

"Did you tell her that she's going to tell me?" Krista asked.

"She doesn't really have a choice either way. Don't worry though, you probably already know."

Krista sighed and caressed Ymir's cheek. "I'm sure I do. Now, let's go and eat because I'm starving."

The couple left the room and called Astrid – who was sitting in the lounge doing homework – to the kitchen to eat. They all took a seat at the table and ate in silence. It was quiet and awkward because Astrid was nervous, Ymir was bored and Krista was anticipating the 'big reveal' that she had been waiting to hear for years. Eventually the time came and the three of them shuffled into the lounge.

Astrid sat between her parents and gripped the fabric of her pants tightly, knuckles turning white. "So… mom, I kind of need to tell you something." Astrid finally began.

Ymir folded her arms across her chest and slumped down on the seat, bored because she already knew but watching because she wanted to see Krista's reaction. It would probably be amusing, or at least Ymir hoped so.

"Astrid, you can tell me anything." Krista encouraged. She placed her hand on her daughter's shoulder and smiled motherly up at her.

Astrid smiled back and took a deep breath. "Okay, so Lexi's parents want to meet you and dad, but not as Lexi's friend's parents. She wants to meet you both as Lexi's girlfriend's parents."

Krista paused and studied Astrid's face, waiting for something else but that seemed to be it. "Is that all? I was expecting something more… grand."

Astrid blinked. "You knew more that dad did, didn't you?" Krista nodded. "I'm sorry mom, for not telling you. Lexi and I have been dating for a year but she made me promise that I wouldn't tell you yet. Yesterday her mom caught us in her room, so she wants to meet you. I kind of freaked out a bit, I guess. But it seems that I was being stupid again."

"When does she want to meet us?" Krista questioned.

"I don't know. I ran away before Lexi could tell me more." Astrid received a smack upside the head and turned to Ymir with a glare. "Ouch! What was that for?" she yelled.

"For being a coward." Ymir responded with a glare of her own. The two glared off until Krista sighed and smacked them both upside the head.

"Stop being stupid, both of you. Ymir, you aren't one to talk. Do you remember how badly you were shaking the day you confessed to me? Or how you escaped out of the window the day my father walked in on us, just before graduation? I think Astrid gets that trade from you."

Astrid's eyes were wide and she quickly covered her mouth with both hands to stop her laughter, but she couldn't hold it back and snorted a bit. Ymir glared intensely at her and then at Krista, unhappy that the blonde had shared that embarrassing bit of information.

"Are you laughing?" Ymir questioned threateningly, sitting up straighter now.

"N-no!" Astrid managed, sputtering as she giggled as little as possible.

Ymir narrowed her eyes and started advancing towards her daughter. Astrid just burst out laughing and tried to make a run for it, but Ymir tackled her to the floor and the two of them started wrestling on the floor. Ymir was trying to get her in a headlock and Astrid was fighting her off.

"Dad, I wasn't laughing! I'm sorry!"

"Bullshit!'

"Okay, uncle! Uncle!"

"You don't get off that easily! Ymir declared but cursed under her breath when Astrid managed to slip out of her hold, stood and then bolted out of the lounge. "Get back here and take it like a Ymir!" The brunette yelled and shot off after her.

Krista just blinked for a few seconds and then sighed when she heard a crash coming from the bathroom. She stood and carefully searched for the two. Sometimes they ran around the house so fast that they would knock Krista right over. It was the curse of having to live with tall people.

"Oh my god, dad, no!" Astrid yelled, panicked.

"Shut up and take it!" Ymir yelled back.

Krista tracked them down and found them in the bathroom. She was not happy with the scene before her when she stepped through the bathroom door and stopped the two in their tracks. Astrid was bent over the toilet with Ymir attempting to shove her head into the bowl.

"Ymir, let her go." Krista said softly, arms now folded over her chest.

Ymir studied Krista's face for a moment and concluded that she was very upset, so she stared seriously into her eyes, slowly broke out into a smirk and replied with a cool, smooth voice. "No."

Astrid squeaked in dread, Krista raised an eyebrow, and then a splitting pain cracked through Ymir's head after Krista dashed forward and gave her a head-butt. She hadn't even seen the blonde move and felt mystified that she could have done it so quickly.

Ymir's hold loosened and Astrid quickly jumped away from the toilet, heart racing. It had almost been the end of her comfortable usage of toilets.

The taller brunette stumbled back with a grunt and covered her forehead with a hand, scowling angrily at Krista. The blonde just huffed and pulled Astrid out of the room with her.

"You and your father." She said, shaking her head.

"Sorry mom." Astrid apologised, feeling bad for upsetting her mother.

"It's okay, your father was the instigator here."

"That head-butt sounded like it hurt though." Astrid commented, wincing when she remembered the sound. "How come you never reel back in pain too? No one wins in a head-butt."

"Years of practice. Now get your homework done and finish up for bed. It's getting late. Talk to Lexi tomorrow and ask her where her parents want to meet us so that we can set a date up."

"Are you really okay with this?"

Krista pulled Astrid down to gently bump their foreheads together and then gave the same spot a tender kiss. "Yes. Stop being dense like your father. Now follow your mother's orders before I'm forced to show you what my head-butt feels like."

Astrid straightened, performed a solute and hurried off to collect her books and bag from the lounge. An hour later she was in bed, laying there and thinking about her parents. She fell asleep with a smile on her face.

Later that night Ymir was lying in bed on her side, back facing Krista. She hadn't spoken to her since the head-butt and scowled at the wall.

Krista sighed from her side of the bed and scooted over to her lover. She rested her chin on her shoulder and caressed her cheek. "Are you mad at me?"

"Yes." Ymir responded softly. She wanted to shrug away from Krista's touch just to make the blonde feel guilty, but it felt so good that she leaned into it. Krista smiled when she did.

"I'm sorry for hurting you, but you deserved it."

"Astrid deserved it! Little shit was laughing at me."

Krista sighed. "You can be really immature sometimes." Ymir just grumbled, not pleased at all. "But I love you anyway. Please turn around and cuddle with me." When Ymir ignored her she sighed and leaned down to whisper in her ear. "I'm naked right now." Ymir was facing Krista in seconds, naughty grin in place because Krista really was naked.

"Well then, I think I forgive you." The brunette said and quickly threw her shirt and boxers off. Krista giggled and cuddled up against Ymir's chest.

"Ymir, about Lexi's parents."

"Mm?"

"I think I know why she didn't want us to know who they are."

Ymir raised an eyebrow and started caressing Krista's soft back. She pulled an arm behind her head and looked up at the ceiling. "And what is the reason?"

"Do you remember Annie Leonhardt from school?" Krista questioned lightly. It took Ymir a moment to remember the name and put a face to it, and then she grumbled in confusion.

"Yeah, that short blondie with the bad attitude. She always pissed me off with the way she totally ignored any comment or insult I threw at her! How could she not even acknowledge my big nose jokes?" Ymir paused as it suddenly dawned on her. "Oh shit… you're not saying…?"

"So, remember when we first met Lexi and I commented how she kind of looks like Annie?"

"Well shit."

Krista sighed in dread.

Ymir and Annie hadn't communicated a lot during school, but Ymir had made it her mission to get the emotionless girl to respond to her, so she would harass her sometimes. Most of the time Ymir wouldn't insult her, but then she got annoyed and the jokes would start. The second Krista saw her doing this she spent an entire afternoon yelling at Ymir for how stupid and mean she was being. The next day Ymir and Annie had gotten into a physical fight. After that they never even spared a glance at each other when they passed each other in the halls.

"I bumped into her with Lexi a while back. Lexi actually really looks like her. Oh, do you know who the father is?" Krista asked excitedly.

"I don't know, her nose?' Ymir retorted.

Krista just ignored that. "Armin Arlert, that kid that stayed number 1 in academics for his full highschool career. Apparently they met properly at collage and just fell in love."

"How sweet." Ymir sighed in distaste. "But I guess I'll have to stop being an asshole and apologise to her. It's for my kid."

"Thank you, Ymir. Astrid will be devastated if Lexi's parents disapprove of her because of your bad behaviour."

"Yeah, yeah."

"Now come here and let me kiss you." Krista leaned up and kissed the small bruise on Ymir's forehead, and then proceeded down to her lips.

XxX

A week later a day had been set up where Lexi's parents would meet Astrid's at a restaurant to properly meet and to talk about their children being in a relationship.

Astrid had been jumping with nerves and Ymir had been silently stressing out too. When they arrived they noticed that Lexi and her family had already arrived and were seated inside of the restaurant. Astrid hurried in quickly to greet her girlfriend and then waited patiently for her parents to keep up.

Ymir hesitated slightly but Krista held her hand comfortably and encouraged her with a smile. It gave Ymir the courage to walk up to the table and pause at the other side, a distance from a bored looking Annie.

"So it was you." The blonde woman stated. "Astrid looks so much like you that I at first thought it was." She stood, arms crossed over her chest and a displeased look on her face. Astrid looked confused and Lexi just looked worried.

Ymir sighed. "Look, Annie, I'm sorry for being such a dick to you in school. But my kid loves your kid now and I don't want hard feelings between us to make them miserable." She held her hand out, biting her lip to keep from scowling. "Please accept my apology."

Annie just glared at her hand for a moment, contemplating, and then she smiled and laughed before taking Ymir's hand and returning the powerful handshake. "Do you really think I held a grudge against you for all of these years? I see your ego hasn't changed." Annie's face had lost some of its emptiness and she took a seat. "There are no hard feelings on my end. Now sit so that I can see if Astrid deserves to love my daughter."

Ymir narrowed her eyes and sat down opposite Annie, Krista sitting next to her. Their children visibly deflated in relief and hurried to take their own seats.

Armin, from where he had been sitting and observing, chuckled and held his hand out to Ymir. "I believe we went to the same school but never met. I remember you being the difficult student that everyone had a problem with."

Ymir rolled her eyes and shook his hand. "And you were the smartass."

Armin chuckled. "Don't take Annie seriously. She adores Astrid. Even though she's your daughter she isn't harsh like you are, or so as Annie says you are. There's no 'who deserves who' here. We just want to get to know you both better if our daughters are in love like they say they are."

"Daaaad." Lexi complained. "We are in love!" She demanded.

"You are a teenager, honey. Teenagers think they're in love all the time." Armin countered.

"Nah, I think they're in love. Astrid is a lot like me. She doesn't feel anything for no reason, and when she loves someone it's intense." Ymir commented, surprising everyone at the table. "Don't try to shove everything in a box and label it. If they say they're in love, then they are. It's their business if they stay that way or not."

Astrid smiled proudly but blushed bright and red. Armin was impressed and turned to his daughter with an apologetic smile. "I never thought of it like that, I'm sorry Alexia." He said.

"It's okay, dad." Lexi responded with a proud smile of her own. Under the tablet she found Astrid's large hand and intertwined their fingers.

"Now, let's discuss how your daughter is having sex with mine even though they're underage." Annie spoke up seriously.

Astrid and Lexi stiffened and looked down at their laps, ashamed and scared.

"I don't think there is anything wrong with it. As long as they're safe and they aren't stupid about it, let them enjoy themselves. I know one thing for certain, and it's that Astrid will never do anything to Lexi unless she wants her to. She won't ever hurt her, because she's a softie like Krista." Ymir stated firmly and slouched back in her seat. She stared at Annie, daring her to disagree.

Annie chuckled. "Good, I'm glad we both agree on something. I think we can finally get along, Freckles." Annie stated, using the nickname she used to use for the brunette when she hadn't respected her at all to use her name,

"Great to nose." Ymir countered with a grin.

Annie just laughed, not caring about the insult.

Krista gave Ymir a peck on the cheek to award her for being as well behaved as she could be and turned to Armin. They all spent the rest of the evening talking, bickering playfully and getting to know each other better after all these years.

It had gone better than anyone had expected.


	14. They grow up so fast

**Chapter 14: They grow up so fast (seven years later)**

People spoke softly as the guests began filtering in through the big church doors again and took a seat. Family members and friends grouped together on either side of the room.

Ymir sat in the front, slouched and arms crossed over her chest. She grumbled softly and glared at the alter in front of them.

"Ymir, honey, stop looking miserable, this is Astrid's big day. She'll be hurt if she sees you so grumpy."

Ymir sighed and sat up straighter. "I'm just worried. Do you think she's okay? They're late for their own wedding." Ymir tugged at the colour of her white suit, the one she hadn't warn in about 20 years. "I'm going to go and check on her." Ymir stated and stood up. She ignored Krista's protests for her to stay and be patient and headed out of the church, Krista following close behind with a sigh.

She rolled her eyes as she passed an angel sculpture. Ymir hadn't been impressed with the choice of this church, but she hadn't been in a place to say so.

When Ymir and Krista were finally formally introduced to Lexi as Astrid's girlfriend, the parents took great care into getting to know Lexi more personally and making her part of the family. To no one's surprise Astrid and Lexi stayed together all through highschool, and besides one terrible argument that led to a month long break, the two had been happily in love.

After Astrid and Lexi graduated from school they moved in together in a house their parents helped them to buy. They attended the same university, and when a few years had gone by Astrid eventually built the courage to propose. She had long since matured and fully understood what her father had meant when she said that Astrid loved like a Ymir.

She loved Lexi with her entire being and protected her with her life. Astrid had grown harder over the years and could handle life's harshness without being reduced to tears. Though Lexi still had the strongest personality, Astrid became the one that was more in charge. They tried to keep their relationship balanced and equal, though, so one of them wasn't the master of the other.

It was now their wedding day and Astrid and Lexi were late. Most of the people had grown restless and wondered out of the church an hour ago, since the whole thing was supposed to have started already. Ymir had a feeling that she knew what the issue was.

The brunette came to the room her daughter was in to prepare for the ceremony and found Lexi with her bridesmaid standing outside of the door, knocking and begging for Astrid to open.

"What's wrong?" Ymir asked, voice filled with worry.

"Oh! Dad," Lexi sighed in relief. She had come to know Astrid's parents as her second pair and referred to them as such. Ymir and Krista didn't mind. "I tried to get her to come out but she's locked herself in. She was fine when we woke up this morning. Maybe a bit nervous, but fine. Can you help her?"

Ymir nodded. "Go to the church with Krista, I'll get Astrid out."

Lexi nodded and followed Krista out of the hallway. When they were gone Ymir sighed deeply and knocked on the door.

"Hey, you little shit. Open up."

Immediately the door unlocked and Ymir opened the door. She stepped in, closed the door behind her and saw Astrid had returned to sitting on the bed, staring out of the window, if she had been there to begin with.

She wore a black suit, unlike Ymir's, to go with Lexi's black wedding dress, and had her white tie undone and hanging around her neck. Her brown hair was tousled stylishly and her face looked strained, her freckles seeming more in numbers because of her expression.

"Dad, I'm scared." Astrid confessed, knowing that her father would ask and she wouldn't do it very nicely. There was no point in stalling or hiding anything, and besides, she had been hoping Ymir would come to talk to her because she was the only one that could help.

"What the hell do you have to be scared of?" Ymir asked, glaring at her daughter. "You have a beautiful woman waiting to marry you. You haven't cheated or anything, have you? Or fallen out of love?"

"God no, dad. You know I'm too loyal to Lexi to ever do anything like that."

"So why are you being an idiot?"

Astrid sighed. "I guess I am being an idiot, huh?" She chuckled humourlessly to herself. The sight made Ymir's heart clench. Astrid looked exactly like she had when she was still young. Ymir was now in her early 40s and she was already finding grey hairs. Krista claimed they were sexy, so they didn't bother Ymir that much.

Getting her thoughts back on track, Ymir went to sit next to Astrid and pulled her into a hug. Not a one armed, awkward hug, but a full, two arms wrapped around her body hug. Astrid was surprised but immediately wrapped her arms around her parent and buried her face against her neck.

"I know I'm being stupid, but I just… I feel like I suddenly don't deserve her." Astrid sniffled. "I don't know what's wrong with me, daddy."

Hearing her daughter call her 'daddy' for the first time in a long time made Ymir frown. It made her sound like she was a little kid again, seeking her father's comfort after a fall or after one of her friends said something mean to her. Ymir just sighed and rested her chin on top of Astrid's head.

"I felt the same way when I married your mother. Before even going to the alter I was resisting the urge to run. But then I thought of how much I love your mother and I stayed. I'm selfish, so even though I felt slightly unworthy, I was sure as hell not going to give my Krista up for anything. It's time that you stopped being so much like your mother and let yourself be selfish for once." Ymir pushed her back and looked her sternly in the eyes. "Lexi is yours, no one else's. Take her and then show everyone who she belongs to. You don't need to feel undeserving, because you are. Much more than I ever was."

"Daddy…"

"You are the best kid anyone could have ever asked for. And that coming from me is one hell of a compliment. You don't just have your mother's eyes, but you have her heart, and that alone makes you worthy of the world's happiness. But just this once, do something for me and be selfish. Enjoy your special day and make that girl you've been doting over for years yours in every way possible."

Ymir stood up from the bed and brushed a tear off of Astrid's cheek with a thumb. She held her arm out with a naughty grin. "Now get up, you cry baby. I'll walk you down the aisle."

"But I…"

"No buts. You are perfect as you are and I won't let you be stupid like this and ruin the second most important moment of your life."

"Second?" Astrid hesitated, but eventually stood.

Ymir grinned and fastened her tie for her while she spoke. "The most important moment will come when you hold the small body of your child in your hands and feel your heart swell with pride and love, and know that no matter what, you'll love it and protect it with everything you have." She finished the tie and gave Astrid's chest a pat and put a hand on her head. Ymir had to grin proudly that her daughter was an inch taller than her. "Ready?"

Astrid swallowed but smiled. Her chest filled with love and she couldn't help but leap out and give Ymir a tight hug. "Thanks, dad. I love you."

"Yeah, yeah. Love you too, Ash. Now take my arm and we'll walk into your future."

Astrid looped her arm around Ymir's and let her father lead her out of the room. They reached the doors of the church and found Krista trying to calm Lexi down, and when she saw the two approach she smiled brightly and gave Ymir an appreciative smile. Ymir just winked back.

"Are you ready to make her your wife, Astrid, stupid insecurities aside?" Ymir asked seriously.

Astrid had her eyes glued to her love, and smiled. "I am, dad. More than I thought I was."

Ymir smiled in pride and led her daughter into the church, walking her to the aisle as Lexi was led by her father beside them. When they reached the alter Ymir handed Astrid over to Lexi and returned to her seat beside Krista.

Krista immediately found her hand and intertwined their fingers. She pulled Ymir's face down to her own for a quick kiss, to thank her for getting their daughter out of whatever mood she had been in, and then she rested her head against Ymir's shoulder and the brunette wrapped an arm around her.

By the end of the ceremony Krista and everyone else were in tears, but no one's tears were pouring harder than Ymir's, though she would never admit it to anyone and hid it before anyone could see. Krista had, and just held her wife tightly as they watched their daughter, now grown and getting married herself, seal her future and begin her life with the person she loved the most.

It was a wonderful thing to watch, though it saddened them that Astrid had grown up so fast and they had to let go.


	15. The third generation of Ymir

**Chapter 15: The third generation of Ymir (five years later)**

Ymir and Krista sat together impatiently in the waiting room of the hospital. Lexi was currently in labour and Astrid was right there by her side.

The couple had been extremely happy together after getting married. Sure, they argued a lot because Astrid was becoming more and more like her father, with snarky comments and sarcastic replies. It seemed that as she aged she slowly lost Krista's softness and gained Ymir's harshness. Lexi still loved her though, so it only managed to bring them closer together instead of pushing them apart.

A year after being married the couple decided to get a new house together. A bigger house, for when they decided to have children one day. Lexi always spoke about it and they had agreed that they would definitely have a large family when they were both ready to start one.

Astrid worked at Ymir's repair shop that was still very successful. She had inherited the business when Ymir retired. Ymir had just grown tired of it and they had enough money in savings to survive for the rest of their lives in luxury.

Lexi took to staying at home instead of working like she had wanted to. With Astrid's new successful career they had no need for more income. While Astrid worked Lexi would spend the days with her friends or family, either her parents or the in-laws. She enjoyed spending time with Ymir and Krista because despite the very long time they had been together they still acted like a young, deeply in love couple.

Their love hadn't seemed to decrease at all in the years, it only calmed. Ymir still tended to ravish Krista everywhere, which Lexi found out the hard way when she walked in on them in the living room once.

After a few years the young couple decided they were ready to start a family, and Astrid made Lexi pregnant on their first try, using the much more advanced version of the method Ymir and Krista had used all those years ago.

Ymir had grumbled about feeling old because she was going to become a grandparent, but she was the happiest out of everyone for her daughter. Krista had started crying in joy when they first found out, and made it her mission to verbally prepare them as much as possible. Knowing the bloodline, Lexi was going to have her hands full if it came out anything like Ymir or Astrid, since the latter had become more difficult than her younger self had been.

As it turned out, they were having twins. And now the moment had finally come for their babies to enter the world.

Krista leaned against Ymir and firmly grabbed her thigh to stop her leg from moving. It was a thing Ymir did when she was nervous or impatient, and in this case she was both. "Calm down, I'm sure they are fine. Astrid will come out as soon as everything has calmed down. Our baby is big now; she can handle this without us, okay?"

Ymir looked off to the side and grumbled. How had Krista known that she had been thinking about Astrid like that? She knew her daughter was an adult now; a married, soon to be parent adult. But she still felt like she needed to rush in to comfort her and to help her, somehow. It was stupid, but Ymir couldn't help it.

It was funny how Ymir was the one more attached to Astrid, instead of Krista being the one.

"Sorry. I'm just impatient. What's taking them so damn long? She's been in labour for 15 hours already."

"Ymir, she has twins. That means she has to get two of them out. It will take some time."

Ymir just grumbled, displeased and folded her arms. She took one of Krista's hands and held it though, just to ease her impatience.

Eventually Astrid emerged with a big grin on her face. She approached her parents and received hugs from them before she had even given them any details.

"So? What are they?" Ymir asked, acting her concern down. She folded her arms across her chest and raised an eyebrow the way only she could. Astrid returned the expression with her own version, and grinned proudly.

"A boy and a girl. My son looks like me, but our daughter looks like Lexi. Do you both want to come in and see? They just brought them back after cleaning them up and everything."

Ymir and Krista nodded and followed their daughter into the room where Lexi and their new-borns were in. Lexi was sitting up in the hospital bed, a baby on each arm. Astrid walked over and took the boy from her arms and turned to her parents.

"Mom, dad, I'd like you to meet Ymir Jr." She held him out for the couple to see.

"Ymir Jr.?" Ymir questioned with surprise.

Astrid blushed. "He looks like a Ymir, so I wanted to give him your name. It suits him though, don't you think?"

Krista felt her heart swell at the adorable grandson in her daughter's arms and gingerly took him into her own. She looked up at Ymir with glistening eyes. "He does look like a Ymir." The blonde commented with a little sniffle. She couldn't help but cry in happiness.

Ymir came up behind Krista and wrapped an arm around her waist. She looked down at her grandchild and had to agree. The same dark skin, same brown hair, and when his eyes fluttered open they were greeted with beautiful brown eyes.

It was definitely Ymir's eyes, because both Astrid and Lexi had blue eyes.

"He's beautiful." Ymir said softly, and reached out to touch his face. Ymir Jr. scrunched his face up when he felt a finger caress his cheek, making everyone 'aww' at the adorableness.

Ymir took him from Krista and cradled him safely in her arms. She smiled down at him and then looked up to meet Astrid's eyes. "You did good, Ash. He's perfect. And your other baby is perfect too." Ymir pulled Astrid in for a hug. "I'm proud of you for having such a beautiful family."

Astrid blushed and accepted her new dozing son back. "Thanks, dad. But we wouldn't be here if it wasn't for you for starting this family from the beginning."

Ymir grinned. "Okay, enough of the mushy stuff. Let me see my granddaughter." She went over to Lexi to see the tiny blue eyed, blonde haired baby in her arms. She definitely resembled Lexi the most, with a few of Astrid's features, and even one of Krista's.

Ymir looked at all of them with a smile, at the family she had started and how wonderfully it had grown. She felt her heart swell with happiness and pulled Krista to her chest.

"We have a beautiful family." Ymir whispered softly into her ear.

Krista cupped Ymir's cheek in her hand and gave her a kiss on the lips. "A family that wouldn't exist without you. Thank you, Ymir, for giving me such an amazing life."

Ymir smiled softly. "No, thank you for giving me the opportunity to do it." She brushed her nose to Krista's, and then turned to the new parents who were chuckling over something their son had done.

It really was a beautiful family, and it would only grow more so in the years to come.


	16. A lifetime to be proud of

**Chapter 16: A lifetime to be proud of (eight years later)**

The day was calm and a cool breeze washed over the area beside the lake. A brunette walked along beside the lake and beside her walked a much shorter blonde. They were holding hands, and the blonde was leaning against her taller companion as they walked.

It was the lake close to Ymir and Krista's home, where Ymir had spent many afternoons with a young Astrid.

Ymir wrapped her arm tighter around Krista and kept her eyes glued to the water as they walked. It was still as beautiful as it had been when she first saw it. She smiled happily at all of the memories the place brought and snickered when a particular memory flashed in her mind.

"What did you remember?" Krista asked, sensing her lover had zoned out for a bit to ponder on the memories of the place.

"I just remembered that time when we brought Astrid here when she was 3, and she ended up running right into the water. Remember how she cried after that? If I hadn't been laughing like I was she probably would have cried for much longer."

"Yeah," Krista smiled at the memory. "I can't believe so much time has passed. I mean, just the other day I was a new student in a new school and met the most attractive, tall brunette."

"I know. The years have flown by, but they've been happy years. I don't even feel the need to be sarcastic."

"If you did I probably would just end up head-butting you."

Ymir winced, remembering the one she had received a few days ago. "Even after all these years, I'm still not in a coma from suffering your abuse."

"Oh shush you." Krista leaned up and kissed Ymir softly on the lips. "I love you, Ymir."

"I love you too." Ymir responded with a naughty grin. "Even though you're all old and grey like me."

"We aren't that old yet, Ymir." Krista pointed out, rolling her eyes.

"Sure as hell feels like we are."

Krista just sighed and turned her eyes back to the path in front of them. A familiar figure appeared up ahead and Krista poked Ymir's side to get her attention.

"Hey, Astrid and Lexi are here. Let's go and see how Ymir Jr. and Mia are doing." Krista said.

Ymir nodded and watched as Lexi appeared beside Astrid and two smaller figures bolted around them, running straight for Ymir.

"Grandpa!" Ymir Jr. exclaimed happily and jumped right into Ymir's arms. She laughed and caught him.

"Hey there mister, how are you today? Being good to your sister?" Ymir asked with a raised brow.

"No! He stole my doll and wouldn't give it back." Mia commented from where she was standing in front of Ymir. The brunette reached down and scooped her blonde granddaughter into her arms.

"Oi, Ymir, don't be a jerk to your sister. Give her doll back." Ymir warned.

"Nu-uh! She wouldn't play with me and I was lonely." He defended himself. "I wasn't being a jerk." They both crossed their arms and glared at each other.

"I will tell your parents you were arguing if you don't make up right now." Krista warned. She gave them both a tight hug and grabbed a hold of Ymir's shirt, since her arms were occupied with holding the kids.

"Sorry gran." The twins said in union and turned to each other. They hesitated, and then they shared a handshake in truce.

Ymir chuckled and let them both down. "Now go and run to your daddy and tell her your grandpa and gran will come in a moment."

The children nodded and ran off, laughing and shoving each other playfully as they went.

"Krista." Ymir wrapped her arms around Krista and lifted her up into her arms. She didn't say anything and just kissed her. Their lips moved together in a familiar pattern, tongues caressing each other. It was a kiss of passion as much as it was of love. Ymir ran her hand through Krista's hair and the blonde tightened her arms around the brunette's neck.

"And that?" Krista asked breathlessly after Ymir had finally given her lips a break.

"I just wanted to kiss my wife and the mother of my child."

"Ymir…"

"I love you."

Krista smiled. "I love you too."

Ymir let Krista back down, complaining softly that she was definitely too old to pick her wife up anymore and chuckled when Krista playfully slapped her stomach. "Let's go and spend the day with our wonderful family." Ymir said.

Krista took her hand and smiled. "Okay."

They walked together along the path, smiling happily as they both thought over the long years that had passed and everything great they had accomplished. Out of everything, they were most proud of their love. Because their love had given birth to Astrid.

When they finally caught up with the younger couple, Ymir and Astrid locked eyes, and Astrid smiled.

**The end.**


End file.
